Cloud Gate Dance Theatre is to become the first group from Taiwan to take part in World Ballet Day, a series of live online events featuring the world’s leading dance companies.
Established in 2014 by the Australian Ballet, the Royal Ballet in London and Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet, World Ballet Day, which is on Oct. 19 this year, offers a glimpse into the daily operations of dance groups from around the world, such as their morning classes and rehearsals, as well as exclusive previews of upcoming performances, the event’s Web site says.
Cloud Gate artistic director Cheng Tsung-lung (鄭宗龍) said in a statement on Friday that it was an honor to have the opportunity to dance in the same event as some of the world’s top performers.
Photo: CNA
“With the way performing arts have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, such a global event shows the important role of the arts in bringing people together,” Cheng said.
Cloud Gate, one of the nine groups making their World Ballet Day debut this year, plans to show a live rehearsal in its 40-minute slot, which is to begin at 9pm on Oct. 19 and can be watched on Cloud Gate’s YouTube Channel.
Forty-seven groups are taking part in this year’s event, with members of the public encouraged to share online a video clip of themselves dancing with the hashtag #worldballetday, Cloud Gate said.
Meanwhile, for dance enthusiasts in Taiwan, Cloud Gate is to present Dance Express (來雲門跳舞) at its base in New Taipei City on selected weekends before Nov. 21.
The interactive demonstration takes participants through a “dancing time warp and Cloud Gate’s daily training in ballet, modern dance [and] Tai Chi Dao Yin, as well as martial arts,” Cloud Gate’s Web site says.
Dancers are also to perform highlights from the group’s past works, including group founder Lin Hwai-min’s (林懷民) Moon Water (水月) and White Water (白水), as well as Cheng’s 13 Tongues (十三聲).
Tickets are available through the Tiki Poki service.
Before the end of the year, Cloud Gate plans to hold free community workshops in Keelung, Kaohsiung and Taichung, and Changhua, Yilan and Miaoli counties, as well as introductory events in schools in rural areas and the outlying islands of Kinmen, Matsu and Penghu, it said.
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