Debra Li

    SINCE it was established in 1973, Cloud Gate Dance Theater has become the undisputed doyen of Taiwan’s performing arts world. Following the debut of their “Cursive” in Shenzhen in 2009, Cloud Gate is bringing another show “The Traveler’s Song” to town.

    Besides the show, creator of the theater Lin Hwai-min brings a new book to share with local readers. During a lecture at Shenzhen Book City CBD store on Sunday afternoon, the choreographer said he wrote the essays in the collection “Gao Chu Yan Liang” (“Stand High, See Far”) to encourage himself and others to keep chasing their dreams.

    Lin’s background is unusual for a dancer. First making his name as a short story writer, the 64-year-old went on to study politics and creative writing before finally starting his career in dance.

    Many readers and his fans have been looking forward to a biography, and the book serves a similar purpose as it captures the important moments in Lin’s life and shares his insights in growing up.

    “My father told me I could be begging some day if I chose dance as my career,” he said. “I insisted. As I see it, dreams are what make life worth living. I wouldn’t have the courage to get out of bed if someone told me this day would be simply a repetition of the previous day.”

    Lin is most thankful to his tutor Yu Da-gang, a renowned Taiwanese scholar of the theater.

    Yu introduced him to Shi Wei-liang, president of Taiwan’s symphony orchestra, so that the two can collaborate. Yu also introduced Lin to the beauty of traditional Chinese culture.

    “There was a period that Yu and his wife would go to the theater to watch Beijing opera, and he always had ‘one extra ticket,’ so that I could go with them,” Lin recalled.

    Many people are curious about how Lin came up with the inspiration to integrate Chinese calligraphy into his dance.

    “Taichi, calligraphy and my dance have something in common,” he said.

    “Unlike ballet dancers who strive to give the appearance of defying gravity, Cloud Gate dancers never leave the ground under their feet. While in ballet, everything is straight, in our dance, everything is cursive just like the strokes in calligraphy and tai chi moves.”

    Lin said the basic training for his dancers consists of tai chi and horse-riding steps.

    “Chinese describe good calligraphy work as ‘dragon flying and phoenix dancing.’ So I told myself that calligraphy was consummated as an art when Huai Su and Wang Xizhi (both famous calligraphers in ancient China) danced with brushes in their hands.”

    With no systematic training methods for his dancers, Lin said he did not expect Cloud Gate to keep his style if he left one day.

    “The new artistic director must be very creative, so you and me can expect something new from the company when that day comes.”

    Presently, Lin said his biggest challenge is getting up early. “I would read and listen to music until late into the night. So it’s difficult for me to rise early. I have always wanted to rise early so that I could be wide awake at 8 a.m., ready to work.”