We’re just two weeks away from welcoming Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan to The Music Center for the very first time and we thought we’d take some time to introduce you to the man behind the movement, Artistic Director & Founder Lin Hwai-min Here’s an excerpt from his bio….
In his homeland, Taiwan, Lin Hwai-min was first known as a critically acclaimed writer. In 1969, at the age of 22 and with two books of fiction published, he went to study in the States and obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Writer’s Workshop at the University of Iowa. He also studied modern dance at the University and in New York.
Lin Hwai-min founded Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan in 1973, the Dance Department at the Taipei National University of the Arts in 1983, and Cloud Gate 2 in 1999. Heralded as “the most important choreographer in Asia, Lin often draws his inspiration from traditional Asian culture and aesthetics to create original works with contemporary resonance, which have made Dance Europe acclaim: “No company in the world dances like Cloud Gate. It presents a distinct and mature Chinese choreographic language. The importance of this evolution in Asian dance is no less profound than the impact of Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt on European classical ballet.”
Among the honors Lin Hwai-min has received are honorary doctorates from six universities in Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan National Award for Arts, the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Award, the award for ‘Best Choreographer’ at the Lyon Biennial Dance Festival, “Distinguished Artist Award” presented by International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA), and the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters from the French Ministry of Culture. In 2005, he was honored by Time Magazine as one of the “Asia’s Heroes.” In 2013, he was awarded by President Ma Ying Jeou with the First Rank Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon. He is the second artist, after film director Ang Lee, to have been bestowed the highest honor from the government of Taiwan.
Honoring Lin Hwai-min with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009, the jury of the International Movimentos Dance Prize, Germany, hails him as “a foremost innovator of dance” and said that “Lin Hwai-min ranks among artists of the century such as William Forsythe, George Balanchine, Birgit Cullberg….”
*************************************************************************************************So you can see why we can hardly wait for Cloud Gate to arrive! See Lin Hwai-min’s work in action January 29-31st in our Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Tickets and more information on our website.
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