Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan: Songs of the Wanderers (Full) | Tai Chi Dance by Lin Hwai-min

According to legend, Cloud Gate is the name of the oldest known dance in China, a ritual dance some 5,000 years old. In 1973, choreographer Lin Hwai-min adopted this classical name for the first modem dance company in Taiwan or China: Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. Cloud Gate’s rich repertoire has its roots in Asian myth, folklore and history, but it brings to these ancient beliefs and stories a modem and universal perspective. The choreography blends traditional Chinese Opera movements and martial arts with modem Western dance techniques, creating an arresting style that is unlike anything else seen on stage in either the East or the West. The company is made up of two dozen dancers. Their training includes Chinese Opera movement, Tai Chi, meditation, modem dance and ballet. The inspiration for the performance Songs of the Wanderers are the religious practices of Buddhism and Hinduism; the childhood frustration of being forbidden to play in the rice after it had been harvested, because, in Asia, rice is sacred; and Hermann Hesse’s Siddartha. Subscribe to wocomoMUSIC: Follow us on Facebook: ABOUT CLOUD GATE DANCE THEATRE Since its founding in 1973, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan has received high public and critical acclaim for its astonishing performances all over the world. At home the company enjoys an almost cult status: giving free outdoor performances several times a year, drawing audiences of up to 80,000 people for each performance. The founder and artistic director of this first contemporary dance company in any Chinese-speaking community is Lin Hwai-min, praised as an unchallenged giant of Asia. © 1999, Licensed by Digital Classics Distribution