The Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (雲門舞集) yesterday stunned the nation by announcing that the Cloud Gate Foundation board of directors had approved founder Lin Hwai-min’s (林懷民) decision to retire at the end of 2019.
The company said in a statement that the board had approved Lin’s recommendation to appoint Cloud Gate 2 (雲門2) artistic director Cheng Tsung-lung (鄭宗龍) to succeed him, starting in 2020.
Lin would officially announce his retirement this afternoon at the National Theater at the press rehearsal for his newest work, Formosa (關於島嶼), which will have its world premiere tomorrow night, the company said, adding that he would continue to serve on the foundation’s board after his retirement.
Photo: Sean Chao, Taipei Times
Lin told the Taipei Times yesterday that he believed the earlier he decided to retire, the better it would be for the company, because it would provide for a longer transition period.
The 70-year-old Lin founded Cloud Gate Dance Theatre in 1973, the nation’s first professional dance company, which in the decades since has become one of the leading modern dance companies in the world and the nation’s premier cultural export.
He has also been a major influence on Taiwan’s arts world as a writer, choreographer, teacher, founder of the dance department at the National Institute of the Arts — which was renamed Taipei National University of the Arts in 2001 — and mentor to dancers, choreographers and many other young artists under the Wanderer program he initiated in 2004, which provides subsidies for budding or experienced artists to travel abroad or to take time off to gain some artistic inspiration.
Lin cofounded Cloud Gate 2 in 1989 with Cloud Gate dancer-turned-colleague Lo Man-fei (羅曼菲) to provide a platform for young Taiwanese choreographers’ works.
Lo served as the troupe’s artistic director until her death in early 2006, at which point Lin took over running that company as well as the main company.
Cheng, a former Cloud Gate Dance Theatre member, is one of the younger generation of choreographers that Lin has mentored and nurtured. He began choreographing for Cloud Gate 2 after leaving the main troupe and was named resident choreographer in 2006 before becoming artistic director in 2014.
While Lin has frequently spoken of feeling his age and wanting to retire over the years, he admitted he was hampered by the lack of a clear choice to succeed him.
Speculation about a possible retirement grew after one of his knees was badly damaged in an automobile accident in December last year, requiring him to undergo months of recuperation and physical therapy.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary