Renowned Taiwanese choreographer Lin Hwai-min (林懷民) will be this year’s recipient of the Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement, the festival said on Wednesday.
Lin, founder of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (雲門舞集), will be the first award recipient who is based outside the US or Europe.
Founded in 1981, the Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement’s first award recipient was renowned US choreographer Martha Graham.
Photo courtesy of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre
In its award announcement, the festival’s organizers described Lin as a choreographer who “often draw[s] inspiration from traditional elements of Asian culture and aesthetics” and said that “his choreographic brilliance continues to push boundaries and redefine the art form.”
This is not the first time that Lin has garnered praise from abroad.
Lin was listed as one of “Asia’s Heroes” by Time magazine in 2005 and honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Movimentos Dance Prize in Germany in 2009.
He was also the recipient of the 2006 John D. Rockefeller 3rd Award.
In addition, he received the Chevalier de l’ Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Ministry of Culture in 2011.
Lin said it was an honor to be the first non-American, non-European recipient of the award.
“The award is not only for me; it is for the whole of Taiwanese society. We are thankful that Taiwanese society has supported Cloud Gate with accolades and practical means over the past 40 years,” he said, adding that it was with the endorsement and support of Taiwanese society that Cloud Gate could create dance works incessantly and was able to perform abroad.
Lin is scheduled to travel to the US in July to receive the award and US$50,000.
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