Local business groups, non-profit foundations and individuals donated more than NT$370 million (US$12 million) to the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre to help rebuild a rehearsal studio after the original was destroyed by a fire earlier this year, the troupe announced over the weekend.
“The generous donations embody our society’s tremendous expectations for Cloud Gate and will encourage it to pursue a dream of continuity and sharing,” said Lin Hwai-min (林懷民), the troupe’s founder and artistic director.
The former writer-turned dancer/choreographer made the remarks after heading a group of Cloud Gate 2 young dancers to make a deep bow before more than 40,000 fans who had turned out to watch a thank-you performance at the National Theater and National Concert Hall plaza in Taipei on Saturday evening.
“This is a gathering where we can share and express our gratitude,” Lin told the audience before the performance. “We want to express out heartfelt thanks.”
Lin said Cloud Gate would make the best use of the donations and would welcome other local performing troupes to share its new studio and facilities.
The 35-year-old dance company’s 1,324m² rehearsal studio, costume, props and production archives were lost in a fire on Feb. 11.
Earlier on Saturday, the troupe held a thanksgiving tea party. Speaking at the occasion, Stan Shih (施振榮), founder of the Acer Group, who now heads Cloud Gate’s fund-raising committee, said board members of the dance company had launched a fund-raising drive in private in late February.
A total of 175 business groups and their affiliated foundations, as well as 3,973 individuals, donated money to help the group rebuild a rehearsal studio, Shih said, adding that the biggest single donation of NT$50 million came from an anonymous business group. Many individual donors also requested anonymity.
“We believe that the donation was the biggest-ever private investment in a non-profit cultural enterprise in Taiwan’s history,” Shih said.
Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), a Nobel laureate who is Cloud Gate’s honorary chairman, said that while the fire had destroyed many of the troupe’s valuable assets, it had also created new opportunities.
The Taipei County Government has offered a disused art and education site in Tamsui (淡水) to house Cloud Gate’s new rehearsal studio.
As a result of government red-tape and the absence of legislation regarding private investment in cultural enterprises, construction at the new site has yet to begin.
Lin urged the government to revise regulations to speed up the construction project.
“Otherwise, inflation could cause cost overruns and hinder the project,” he said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS