 Lin Hwai-minFounder and Artistic Director of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, Lin Hwai-min studied Chinese opera in his native Taiwan, modern dance in New York, and classical court dance in Japan and Korea. He founded Cloud Gate in 1973. An internationally renowned choreographer, Lin often draws inspiration from traditional Asian culture to create works with innovative forms and contemporary relevance. He has received broad international acclaim: “Lin Hwai-min has succeeded brilliantly in fusing dance techniques and theatrical concepts from the East and the West.”
Lin Hwai-min’s choreography “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.”
Lin is a recipient of many awards and honors, including honorary doctorates from Taipei National University of the Arts, National Taiwan University, National Chiao Tung University, National Chung Cheng University in Taiwan, and Hong Kong Baptist University. He has also received the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the so called “Nobel Prize of Asia”; the John D. Rockefeller III Award; the “Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters” from the French Ministry of Culture; and a Lifetime Achievement accolade from the International Movimentos Dance Award. In 2005, he was honored by Time Magazine as one of “Asia’s Heroes. Lin’s works have been restaged by dance companies and universities in the U.S. and Europe. In 2004, his production Smoke was restaged, for the first time by a classical ballet company, by the Zurich Ballet. In 2006, he choreographed for Sylvie Guillem a solo piece, Sally, at the ballerina’s invitation. Lin’s opera direction credits include Rashomon in Austria and Tosca in Taiwan. An acclaimed writer, Lin holds a Master of Fine Arts from the Writers’ Workshop, University of Iowa. His novella Cicada is a best seller in Taiwan, and several of his short stories have been translated into English and published in the United States. His biographies, The Legend of Lin Hwai-min and Cloud Gate and Hwai-min as a Young Man, are popular sellers in Chinese speaking communities. Lin founded the Department of Dance at Taipei National University of the Arts in 1983 and served as its chairman for five years. In 1993 and 1994, he was the founding dean of the university's graduate dance program. In 1999, he gave workshops in Cambodia to help local dancers organize teaching materials of Khmer classical dance for children. Since 2000, Lin has also served as Artistic Director of “Novel Dance Series,” which introduces internationally renowned avant-garde groups and artists – one of the latest being Jérôme Bel in June 2006 – to dance enthusiasts in Taiwan.
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Portrait of Lin Hwai-min |
