Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan was the first contemporary dance company in any Chinese speaking community. The company are known for transforming ancient aesthetics into thrillingly original performances that draw on diverse disciplines; from chi kung and meditation to ballet and internal martial arts. Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan website.Luno Halo - T065489176Cloud Gate Artistic Director CHENG Tsung-lung first observed a lunar halo - a sparkling ring around the moon - in the sky over Iceland. The phenomenon is said to predict an impending storm and, on a deeper level, forebodes a time of considerable change. Working with the Icelandic band Sigur Rós, CHENG now explores the changes that are shaping our world today, particularly our increasing reliance on communicating through new technology. Performing to a hauntingly ethereal soundtrack, the dancers interact with each other - in pairs, groups, or as an ensemble - as well as with multiple large LED panels that are filled with fluidly moving shapes, colours, and images so that their sheer physicality highlights one of the essential questions of our age: if we can satisfy our needs and desires with just a few taps of a screen, what is the purpose of the human body? | |
| 30 Nov 23 to 2 Dec 23 | Sadler's Wells Theatre, Inner London :: V224 listing details L0667536925 |
13 Tongues & Dust - T01896039509UK Premiere. As Lin Hwai-min, founder of the world-renowned Taiwanese company, steps down in 2020, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre brings works from the current and new artistic directors. Lin's Dust uses Dmitri Shostakovich's response to the destruction of Dresden to form his own requiem for this century. Dancers struggle through smoke and dirt until they are swallowed up in the darkness. Cheng Tsung-lung grew up selling slippers on the side of the road. For 13 Tongues, Cloud Gate's new artistic director merges his memories of the sights, sounds and vitality of Bangka, Taipei's oldest district, for a fantastical tale inspired by a street storyteller. | |
| 26 Feb 20 to 29 Feb 20 | Sadler's Wells Theatre, Inner London :: V224 listing details L500108946 |
Formosa - T360070992UK Premiere. Choreographer and writer Lin Hwai-min's new work takes inspiration from the legendary words of the Portuguese sailors in the 16th century, as they spotted the verdant land that would one day be known as Taiwan: "Formosa!" ("Beautiful!") With music by award-winning Taiwanese indigenous singer Sangpuy and projection designs made up of Chinese characters, the lines between tribal rituals and the bustle of the city begin to blur. Using gesture, script, music and other elements of the island, Lin explores how writing has a power to distort memories and erase history. | |
| 9 May 18 to 12 May 18 | Sadler's Wells Theatre, Inner London :: V224 listing details L02128919317 |
Songs of the Wanderers - T0262642583A visually stunning tribute to pilgrimage, Songs of the Wanderers creates a world of intense reverence, distinctly Asian in its imagery yet with powerful relevance far beyond any geographic boundary. Evocative movements set to a soundtrack of soulful Georgian folksongs sung by the Rustavi Choir find life on a simple but striking set, including three tons of shimmering golden grains of rice falling to the floor. | |
| 4 May 16 to 7 May 16 | Sadler's Wells Theatre, Inner London :: V224 listing details L01223631096 |
Nine Songs/Rice - T01835143278Based on a series of classical Chinese poems by Qu Yuan, Nine Songs draws on ancient imagery and sensibilities to create a thoroughly contemporary piece, in which distant and recent pasts collide. Received to great acclaim across the globe, the dance reflects the cycles of nature, echoing the rich verses found in the original poetic text. | |
| 21 Feb 14 to 27 Feb 14 | Sadler's Wells Theatre, Inner London :: V224 listing details L1856672387 |
White - T0330818392White is divided into three distinct parts - each part presenting a different type of ?white'. Set to music by Japanese composer Atsuhiko Gondai, The Bowed Piano Ensemble founder Stephen Scott and percussionist composer Alex Cline, light and shadow is used to spectacular effect as over 20 performers are transformed into moving silhouettes.Director Lin Hwai-min. Music Atsuhiko Gondai. Performer I-wen Chiu. Performer Wan-chun Ko. Performer Ming-yuan Tsai. Performer Chia-liang Lin. Performer Chien-hung Yu. Performer I-ping Su. Performer Hiu-ling Liu. Performer Mei-ya Huang. Performer Tzu-chun Lee. Performer Tzu-wei Kuo. Performer Mu-han Chen. Performer Tzu-ping Hsiao. Performer Yi-ping Yeh. Performer Lap-cheong Wong. Performer Hsin-fang Lin. Performer Tang-li Hou. Performer Tsung-hsuan Lee. Performer Chun-wei Lai. Performer Hsing-lun Lai. | |
| 9 Nov 11 to 12 Nov 11 | Sadler's Wells Theatre, Inner London :: V224 listing details L0173898077 |
Wind Shadow - T01902912561Choreographic master Lin Hwai-min has created a contemporary dance work that makes shadows come alive. Joining forces with leading Chinese visual artist Cai Guo-Qiang, Wind Shadow is a study of motion created through monochromatic palettes and the use of light and shadow. Set to a haunting soundscape, the dancers capture the intangible quality of the wind and the variable structures of shadows. Projections of Cai's gunpowder drawings merge into silhouettes and form a moving art installation within which the dancers engage with their independent shadows. Co-commissioned by Yong Lin Foundation; National Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Center (Taiwan). 80 min with no intervalCorporate Sponsor Council for Cultural Affairs Taiwan. Producer Bite09. Choreographer Lin Hwai-Min. Music Liang Chun-Mei. Music Jim Shum. Design Lin keh-Hua. Lighting Chang Tsan-Tao. Other Ethan Wang (videography). Costume Tseng Tien-Yu. | |
| 6 Oct 09 to 10 Oct 09 | Barbican Centre, West End :: V371 listing details L098874938 |
Moon Water - T1560494330[Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan] is renowned for delivering spellbinding, spiritual performances. Here the company perform the breathtakingly beautiful Moon Water (a hit at Sadler’s Wells in 2002), in which the whole stage is flooded with water and reflections, creating a stunning on-stage work of art. Choreographer [LIN Hwai-min] has integrated meditation, tai-chi, martial arts and Chinese opera movement with modern dance and ballet, to develop a truly unique dance style - varying from the weighty stillness of a stone sculpture, to floating lyricism, to fierce martial-art like attack. Moon Water is set to movements from Bach’s Suites for Solo Cello. Mirrors appear on stage, reflecting the image of the moving dancers and the patterns of the white brush strokes of the set. Water then flows onto the stage, until the floor itself becomes a huge mirror reflecting dancing bodies.Choreographer LIN Hwai-min. | |
| 7 May 08 | Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes :: V754 listing details L1689194746 |
| 2 May 08 to 3 May 08 | The Lowry, Salford :: V0655996499 listing details L1028292989 |
| 29 Apr 08 to 30 Apr 08 | Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham :: V145 listing details L01360454142 |
| 25 Apr 08 to 26 Apr 08 | Festival Theatre, Edinburgh :: V600 listing details L015626004 |
| 22 Apr 08 to 23 Apr 08 | Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff :: V1984858935 listing details L945691255 |
| 16 Apr 08 to 19 Apr 08 | Sadler's Wells Theatre, Inner London :: V224 listing details L809333117 |
Wild Cursive - The Final Chapter of Cursive: A Trilogy - T692291638Wild Cursive is the final part in this trilogy and explores the idea of spontaneity. Vast scrolls of paper are unfurled on the stage and streams of ink are poured over them, creating a spectacular 'installation in progress'. The seeping ink forms abstract patterns as the dancers display their trademark strength, fluidity, control and mesmerising movement.Choreographer Lin Hwai-min. | |
| 19 Jun 07 to 22 Jun 07 | Sadler's Wells Theatre, Inner London :: V224 listing details L0638109911 |
Bamboo Dream - T227894274A bamboo forest covers the stage creating an imposing landscape where its visitors are transformed. In the heat of summer the dancers hide, flow and roll amongst the delicate structures. As dusk sets in, snow drifts slowly down signaling the end is near. The bright red fabric of the dancers dresses float in the air striking a brilliant contrast with the white covered ground. The flute of a Shaman and symphonic music accompanies these aerial games.Choreographer Lin Hwai-Min. | |
| 1 Dec 04 to 5 Dec 04 | Barbican Centre, West End :: V371 listing details L1384893861 |
Moon Water - T1113426907To the Chinese, Moon Water, is reminiscent of two things, one is a Buddhist proverb, 'Flowers in a mirror and moon on the water are both illusive' and the other describes the ideal state of a tai-chi practitioner 'Energy flows as water, while the spirit shines as the moon'. Choreographer [Lin Hwai Min]'s entrancing Moon Water is based in tai-chi which gives it a natural rhythm and a visible pulse from the energy of breathing that propels one action smoothly towards the next and recalls the swell and ebb of a river. Moon Water is profoundly simple. Circles of stage design and movement, identical white silk costumes for men and women, a watery black set opening up to a panoply of silvery mirrors and a flowing continuity in the style and structure of the dance, all performed to [J.S. Bach] solo cello suites.Choreographer Lin Hwai Min. | |
| 28 May 02 to 1 Jun 02 | Sadler's Wells Theatre, Inner London :: V224 listing details L01959400062 |
T1868232529Songs of the WanderersChoreographer Lin Hwai-min. | |
| 13 Apr 99 to 17 Apr 99 | Sadler's Wells Theatre, Inner London :: V224 listing details L01608820021 |
Other listings | |
| 10 May 16 to 11 May 16 | Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham :: V145 listing details L286717591 |
