After a five-year battle with lung cancer, renowned dancer Lo Man-fei (羅曼菲) died early yesterday morning at the age of 51.
The Cloud Gate Dance Theater (雲門舞集), with whom Lo had a long relationship, announced it will set up a fund to create an award in her name, and the Dance Department of the Taipei National University of the Arts (TNUA) is to hold a special retrospective of her work from next Tuesday through April 20.
Lo discovered that she had lung cancer in 2001, but remained passionately committed to her dance performances, choreography and teaching.
PHOTO: CNA
She was known as a graceful figure, often represented as the epitome of health and beauty in the press, and as an example of success in fulfilling one's dreams.
The dancer will be cremated and her ashes scattered around a tree next to her father's grave in a simple ceremony, according to her wishes.
Born in Taipei, Lo's family moved to Ilan when she was three months old. In November last year the Ilan County Cultural Bureau commissioned artist Lin Chien-cheng (
Lo graduated from National Taiwan University's Department of Foreign Language and Literatures and gained her Masters from New York University.
In her early career she performed for the Neo-Classic Dance Company of Taiwan and was also in the cast of The King and I during the time she spent in New York. In 1979, she joined Cloud Gate, and was appointed the artistic director of Cloud Gate 2 in 1999.
In 1985 she began teaching in TNUA's dance department, and established the Taipei Crossover Dance Company in 1994, together with other first generation Cloud Gate dancers including Wu Su-chun (
Lo received the Wu San-lien Award of Literature and the Arts in 1999 and the National Culture and Arts Foundation's National Award for the Arts in 2000.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book