Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (雲門舞集) artistic director Lin Hwai-min (林懷民) yesterday said that the time was right to start planning his retirement: for him, the company he has led since founding it in 1973 and for Taiwan.
The company held its press preview yesterday for Lin’s latest work, Formosa (關於島嶼), which premieres tonight at the National Theater in Taipei. It drew an unusually large number of television camera crews, photographers and journalists.
A new work by Lin is always an event, but the company’s short announcement on Wednesday that Lin he would retire at the end of 2019 and be succeeded by Cloud Gate 2 (雲門2) artistic director Cheng Tsung-lung (鄭宗龍) in January 2020 left everyone wanting to know why.
Photo: Pan Shao-tang, Taipei Times
His answer could be summed up as: “It is the right time.”
The 70-year-old Lin said he was feeling his age, not always remembering people’s names when he met them in the street, for example.
“I do not want to make Cloud Gate a museum-style company,” he said, adding that he did not want to wait until he was 90 and only able to “dance with his hands.”
Photo: Pan Shao-tang, Taipei Times
“Two years after the opening of the Cloud Gate Theater, we are in a stable position,” he said, referring to the theater, studio, workshop and office complex that opened in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) in April 2015.
“I have been thinking about this for a long time... 2020 is a good time, Tsung-lung is in a good position; the company is in a good position,” he said, adding that the two-year buffer period would allow for a smooth transition.
“It is time for young choreographers to create with their own voices,” he said.
He reminded the media that he had not started out wanting to become a dancer or a choreographer, but was just looking for a way to help Taiwanese gain a wider voice.
“I didn’t want to create a company. I was a writer. I wanted Taiwan to have its own voice, its own experience. I started the company with some fellow dancers and thought that I would turn it over to professionals… That didn’t happen. I never dreamed of performing around the world,” he said.
However, Cloud Gate has never been his alone and he was never solely responsible for its success, he said.
The Taiwanese audiences that have loyally supported the troupe, the dancers he worked with, and the thousands of people who donated money to help Cloud Gate rebuild after the fire that destroyed its studio complex in the then-Taipei County’s Bali Township (八里) in February 2008, all helped make the company what it is, he said.
Cloud Gate was Taiwan’s first professional dance company and almost 45 years later it remains the nation’s only full-time dance troupe, which makes him feel sad, Lin said.
“The performance arts market in Taiwan still faces great challenges, he said.
Asked if Formosa would be his swan song for the company, Lin said he did not think he would be creating another major work for the troupe before he steps down.
“There is a lot to do, but I go with the flow. You never know,” he said.
As for afterwards?
“Tsung-lung might never ask me to choreograph for the company,” Lin joked.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as