Taiwan Today

When the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre returned to the stage last September, its comeback performance following a two-and-a-half-year hiatus was one of the major cultural events of the season: Taipei's National Theater was packed. In fact, all six performances had been sold out for weeks, and even President Lee Teng-hui attended. And next to the theater hall, in the outdoor plaza of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, another twenty thousand people watched a live broadcast of the opening performance projected on a giant screen.

The overflow audiences were perhaps the best indication of Cloud Gate's popularity in Taiwan. "It was so touching; those people on the plaza, they were there not just for an evening out but because of Cloud Gate," says Lin Hwai-min (林懷民), forty-five, the company's founder and artistic director.

The enthusiastic response to Cloud Gate's return was not surprising; the island's first professional modern dance company has drawn large crowds ever since its debut performance in 1973, which also opened to a sold-out audience. In the fifteen years that followed, Cloud Gate worked diligently to build an audience in a society that had had little exposure to modern dance.

It did so by presenting dances that spoke directly to Taiwan audiences. For example, one of the early pieces, Lin Hwai-min's 1978 Legacy, tells the epic story of Taiwan's first pioneers who came from mainland China several hundred years ago, portraying their hardships and victories in powerful images. Lin recalls proclaiming during the first season: "We should have Chinese dancers, dancing Chinese choreography to music by Chinese composers, and performing for a Chinese audience."

Cloud Gate also became a source of pride for Taiwan by gaining prestige abroad. In fifteen years, the company made fourteen overseas tours and earned critical acclaim as the first Chinese modern dance company to perform in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It therefore came as something of a blow to Taiwan's dance circles when the company disbanded in October 1988. The decision was made not so much because of financial problems ―those had always been there― and certainly not due to a lack of opportunity, Lin explains. It was primarily a matter of professional burnout. "We now have the prestige," Lin said at the time, "but we don't have the energy." He felt the company needed a break in order to progress.

After disbanding Cloud Gate, Lin traveled in India and Indonesia, and then studied at New York University as a Fulbright scholar. When he returned to Taiwan in 1991, Lin found that the public's enthusiasm for Cloud Gate had not died; everyone from the president to taxi drivers inquired about the troupe's future. "The cab drivers," Lin says, "they were really the trigger."

Indeed, some people believe that it is only because of Cloud Gate's unique appeal that a significant audience for modern dance now exists in Taiwan. Says Lo Man-fei (羅曼菲), a principal dancer and choreographer with Cloud Gate who also works independently here and abroad: "If there had been no Cloud Gate, I don't think the audience today would be as supportive. I don't think I am creating new audiences myself. Cloud Gate is like ABT [American Ballet Theater] in New York. You need companies like ABT, or Alvin Ailey, to draw in the audience. Then they will go see others."

Taiwan's other dance companies have all been founded since Cloud Gate, and in recent years there has been a surge in the local dance scene. Half-a-dozen dance companies now perform regularly islandwide, at least as many independent choreographers and several university dance departments also stage performances. In addition, the government hosts annual choreographic competitions. All of these activities began within the past decade.

Although none of the new dance companies approaches Cloud Gate's popularity, the competition creates new challenges for the company. Choreographer Lin Hsiu-wei, who made a name for herself dancing with Cloud Gate in the 1970s and early '80s and now runs the Taigu Tales Dance Theater in Taipei, is glad to see Cloud Gate return. But she points out that Cloud Gate does not dominate local dance as it once did, and the change is a reflection of the accomplishments of the overall dance community: "Now, Cloud Gate is not as influential," Lin says. "I think that's good."

Nevertheless, since its ambitious new start last September, Cloud Gate is clearly even more serious about expanding its public appeal. During a six-performance showing of works by four choreographers in mid-December, the company drew capacity audiences to the National Theater. For 1992, the company plans at least two formal seasons, including a resurrection of the full-length version of its signature work, Legacy. The company is also negotiating an overseas tour, most likely a trip to several European cities in the fall.

The outdoor broadcast of Cloud Gate's comeback performance last year was the first major indication of the company's attempt to broaden its audience. Lin plans to hold two free outdoor performances each year, most likely on the plaza of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial. One such show is already scheduled for June. In addition, the company will include small villages in its three-month round-the-island tour scheduled to begin in June. It will stage thirty performances at whatever venues are available, including school auditoriums and temple grounds.

According to Lin, the outdoor and village performances can help strengthen cultural bonds in Taiwan communities. "It's important for Cloud Gate to provide this kind of gathering," he says. "There are so few things anymore that can draw people out of their isolated apartments. A sense of community is so important. I believe art brings people together. It can give people a moment of relief, relaxation, and inspiration." All too often, Lin adds, people gather in large groups only for political reasons, for demonstrations or sit-ins. "Must we get together only at those angry moments?" he asks.

Beyond bringing audiences together to share cultural and artistic pleasures, Cloud Gate also has a reputation for including social and political themes in its works. The revived company plans to continue in this direction, borrowing from past successes as well as breaking new ground. "The spirit is new," Lin says. "The dancers are younger, taller. It's a new generation. But as far as I'm concerned, we only disbanded; we never shut down permanently, so I want a continuity."

In preparing the company's repertoire, Lin plans to re-stage many of his most famous works including Legacy, Dreamscape, Dream of the Red Chamber, and Nirvana. For last year's comeback performance, Lin chose his 1986 My Nostalgia, My Songs, a dance that evokes Taiwan's seamy side in the 1950s and '60s. In a series of story-like sequences, including a controversial bar-hostess routine, Lin explores the struggle of rural people trying to adapt to urban life. He uses popular songs from the era, dresses his dancers in street attire, and incorporates everyday movements ―walking to and fro, lighting a cigarette, tossing a hat, baring a leg. The dance alternates between a variety of moods: sometimes lighthearted, sometimes wistful, sometimes wrenchingly sorrowful. In the midst of it all is a woman in white who seems to have quietly lost her sanity; she is frightened by something that cannot be seen, she reaches out for something that cannot be held.

Another memorable dance restaged for the September opening was Lin's It is June the 8th, 1989, 4:00 PM, Today... which was inspired by the Tienanmen incident. The name was taken from a recording made by protest leader Chai Ling several days after the military crackdown on the demonstrators. During the last few years, dancer Lo Man-fei performed the work many times throughout the United States. In bringing it back to Taiwan, Lin pared the dance down to a continuous spinning in place, with slight variations in arm and body stance. The dance is a study in simplicity, but it is the kind of simplicity that can stir and silence an audience. It is a dance that speaks of courage in the face of overwhelming obstacles.

The piece is a moving experience for the dancer as well. Lo says she has matured greatly as an artist by performing this dance; every time she does it, because she must contend with both physical strain and dizziness, it brings her renewed strength. "When I perform this dance, I feel I am not only a dancer," Lo says. "I feel like, as an old Chinese saying says, I am standing on the earth but my head is touching the sky."

Lin's dances often comment on current trends and social issues in Taiwan, particularly those that spark controversy. He wants to do more than merely entertain audiences: he wants them to think. "He is not an escapist; he uses dance to confront things," Lo says. Whenever there is a hot political issue or social problem, "Hwai-min will always have something to say about it," she adds.

For example, in Lin's Fortune Number Cards and Change of Costumes, which premiered at last year's opening night, he translates the clashes, fisticuffs, and general disarray that have beset the Legislative Yuan for the past several years. The result is a disturbing, sometimes violent, and ultimately anarchic dance. Fortune Number Cards illustrates how Lin links his choreography with modern society. This has been an essential feature of Cloud Gate, and one that has had much to do with the group's popularity. "Cloud Gate has a very strong social sensibility," says Lo. "Hwai-min will always have that. Even when he's in New York, he is talking about Taiwan. He is really vibrating with Taipei. He really cares."

At the same time, Lin is taking Cloud Gate beyond his own concerns and his own choreography. For years, he has invited other choreographers to create new works for the company. Last December's performances, for example, included Green, Green Earth, by Lo Man-fei; The Story of Nu Wa, by respected Hong Kong choreographer Helen Lai; and the premiere of Repercussions, by New York choreographer Kathryn Posin. Posin, who has worked with some of the world's top dance companies and now directs her own company, spent several weeks in Taiwan working with the Cloud Gate dancers to create the piece.

Lin has set out to boost Cloud Gate's repertoire to a new level by buying rights to perform the dances of top-name international choreographers. Audiences got their first taste of this new direction at last September's opening. The show featured the 1962 dance Aureole by American Paul Taylor, one of today's most significant choreographers. (The Paul Taylor Dance Company, founded in New York City in 1954, has long been a major force in international modern-dance developments.) It was the first time that Cloud Gate had staged such a renowned Western work, and it took time to arrange. To perform such a dance, permission must be gained from the choreographer, the rights purchased, and either the choreographer or an appointed representative must come in person to teach the work and approve the company's rendition.

Receiving Taylor's permission to stage Aureole is further indication of Cloud Gate's stature in the international dance community. The dance has been performed by such companies as the Royal Danish Ballet and the Paris Opera. "By bringing Aureole [to Taiwan], we are actually bringing part of the best of Western culture into our everyday life," Lin says. "This is new. Before we never spent big money on projects like this. This is the major difference in Cloud Gate [now]: Buy the masterpieces." Lin sees great value in exposing Taiwan dancers and the public to important works from around the world. Performed by Cloud Gate, foreign works can have a more permanent influence on local audiences than if they are performed by visiting foreign groups on a one-time basis.

Some of the biggest changes in Cloud Gate are off stage. The group has restructured its management to make the company better organized. The Cloud Gate office is now headed by company manager Yeh Wen-wen, who has a master's degree in performing arts management from City University of New York's Brooklyn College, and development manager Wen Huei-wen, who earned an M.B.A. from the California State University system.

Although money continues to be a problem, Cloud Gate has taken several steps to solidify its financial base. Last year, Wen Huei-wen established the Cloud Gate Foundation as a formal fund-raising organization. Administered by aboard of directors, the foundation launched a highly publicized appeal for public donations, the first of its kind by a Taiwan performing arts company. As of December 1991, it had raised more than US$385,000, enough to run the company for about four months. According to Lin, it was a generous response and a good start at inspiring public support for the arts. Last year, Cloud Gate also received a substantial government grant of US$300,000, which it used to reestablish the company, a change from previous years, when government money was available only for the company's major foreign tours.

With a sounder financial base, Cloud Gate is now focusing on long-term planning. "The whole idea is for permanent development," says Lin. "My reason for coming back is to establish a ground for things to grow." One of his biggest projects is the development of a professional dance school. Cloud Gate has run a studio with public classes for many years, even after the dance company disbanded, but the new school will offer the first privately run professional dance school in Taiwan. Students will be chosen by audition, and graduates will be certified. Beginning with ballet, the students will then progress to modern dance and composition. The program will be developed by professional dance instructor Else Lim, formerly with the Australian Ballet School in Melbourne.

Even though the school will be backed by Cloud Gate's credentials, Lin foresees problems in convincing parents that a professional dance program is aviable alternative to an academic education for their children. Because of the college entrance exam system, it is almost impossible for students to do both. Years of exam preparation keeps most students too busy to take part in any non-academic activities. "Starting a school is really harder than starting a company," Lin says. "You have to fight the whole system, a whole way of thinking."

Ultimately, Lin hopes to go beyond training future dancers, and beyond dance itself. In the broadest sense, he wants to promote overall cultural preservation and development. For example, in an effort to help preserve traditional Taiwanese songs, those that were used in the dance My Nostalgia, My Songs were recorded and offered to the public on cassette last year. According to Lin, when some of the now-aging composers of these songs were brought on-stage after the first performance last September, it was the first time they had been publicly honored.

In fact, the company has promoted a number of local composers and musicians over the years. A good example is folk singer and storyteller Chen Ta, whose soulful, improvised ballads were a memorable part of Legacy. Although Chen, in his seventies at the time, was already well-known, Lin says the Legacy commission solidified his reputation.

Cloud Gate is making contributions in other areas as well. Future projects include recording songs of Taiwan's indigenous peoples and videotaping traditional rituals and ceremonies. The Cloud Gate Foundation is also developing a monthly arts and culture publication. Lin also plans to introduce dance traditions from other countries, particularly those in Asia. With all this in the works, Lin says the "new" Cloud Gate is establishing itself as more than just a dance company. Today, he says, "Cloud Gate is a cultural company." ―Sarah Brooks, who writes frequently on dance, is Sunday editor of The China News in Taipei.