30-Second Overview: In 1973, a 26-year-old novelist named Lin Hwai-min with no professional dance background
founded Taiwan's first professional contemporary dance company, "Cloud Gate Dance Theatre."
This company not only became the first contemporary dance troupe in the Chinese-speaking world
but has remained active on the international stage for over 50 years, earning recognition from
The New York Times as "Asia's most important contemporary dance company."
In 1970, 23-year-old Lin Hwai-min was studying at the Iowa Writers' Workshop in the United States. He had already published his acclaimed novel Cicadas and was a promising young writer in Taiwan's literary scene. But one evening in a foreign land, he walked into a dance studio and began an adventure that would completely transform Taiwan's performing arts landscape.
No one could have imagined that three years later, this novelist would establish the first professional contemporary dance company in the Chinese-speaking world and keep it thriving for half a century.
From Literature to Movement: An Unexpected Turn
Lin Hwai-min was born in 1947 in Xingang, Chiayi, into a distinguished family. His great-grandfather was a Qing Dynasty scholar, his grandfather a Japanese-educated physician, and his father, Lin Jin-sheng, was Taiwan's first Chiayi County Magistrate. From such an intellectual household, Lin's path into literature seemed natural—he began publishing fiction at 14 and released Cicadas at 22, capturing the youth culture of 1960s Taiwan in Taipei's Star Café and marking a literary generation.
💡 Did you know
Lin fell in love with dance at age 5 after watching the film "The Red Shoes,"
but didn't formally begin dance training until he was 23.
But this literary young man's turn at Iowa opened an entirely new door for Taiwan. In 1970, he began formal dance training while pursuing his degree, studying both literature and modern dance. After earning his Master of Fine Arts in 1972 and returning to Taiwan, he made what he called an "impulsive" decision: to establish a modern dance company.
That was 1973. Without government funding, professional venues, or even enough dancers, Lin and several like-minded young people began Cloud Gate's first performance at an experimental theater.
Cloud Gate: An Ancient Name's Modern Revolution
"Cloud Gate" refers to a legendary ceremonial dance from the time of the Yellow Emperor. Lin's choice of this ancient dance name was deliberate. He hoped to create works rooted in his own culture rather than mere imitations of Western modern dance. More importantly, he told the media that Cloud Gate's ultimate purpose was to "dance for all people."
In 1973, this sounded like an impossible mission. Modern dance was virtually unknown in Taiwan—where were the audiences? Where was the funding? But Lin and his Cloud Gate gradually turned the impossible into reality.
In 1978, Lin brought his dancers to the banks of Xindian Creek to move stones, experiencing the physical attitudes of early settlers, creating "Legacy"—an epic dance drama about "crossing the black waters from Tang Mountain to Taiwan." This was the first theatrical work based on Taiwan's history.
📝 Curator's Note
"Legacy" premiered on December 16, 1978, the very day the United States announced
it would sever diplomatic relations with the Republic of China. Over two months,
this dance depicting early settlers' struggles across dangerous waters comforted
and inspired over 20,000 audience members.
This was no coincidence—it was history finding its voice. At the moment when Taiwanese society most needed cultural identity, Cloud Gate used the body to tell the story of this land.
The Modern Language of Eastern Bodies
What's most admirable about Lin is his deep excavation and modern transformation of Eastern culture. "Nine Songs" (1993), adapted from Qu Yuan's poem of the same name, transformed classical literary imagery into dynamic dance aesthetics. "Songs of the Wanderers" (1994) drew inspiration from Hermann Hesse's novel and Buddhist scriptures—Lin personally pilgrimaged to Bodh Gaya where Buddha achieved enlightenment, returning to create this work that transformed Asian religious rituals into contemporary theatrical ceremony.
"Pine Smoke" (2003) took inspiration from Song Dynasty landscape paintings, with dancers moving like ink dots through swirling mist. "Rice" (2013) brought the life cycle of rice paddies to the stage, even performing in actual rice fields in Chishang, Taitung in 2013, merging dance with the land itself.
These works embodied Lin's aesthetic philosophy of "body as landscape." He believed that Eastern bodies contain cultural codes different from those of the West, and that modern dance should draw nourishment from its own cultural soil.
The New York Times dance critic wrote: "Lin Hwai-min has succeeded brilliantly in fusing dance techniques and theatrical concepts from the East and the West."
Fire and Rebirth: The 2008 Calamity
At 1 AM on February 11, 2008, the fifth day of the Chinese New Year, a phone call shattered Lin Hwai-min's peaceful night. Cloud Gate's iron-sheet rehearsal studio in Bali, used for 16 years, had been completely destroyed by fire.
"The call came from a girl living near the rehearsal space who happened to still be awake. I didn't know her or how she got my number... I immediately ran over there. I was terrified by what I saw," Lin later recalled.
Performance props, historical materials, costumes—almost everything was consumed by flames. For a company that had existed for 35 years, this was equivalent to burning away all collective memory.
But this disaster actually mobilized unprecedented support from Taiwanese society. With help from all sectors, Cloud Gate raised over NT$370 million for reconstruction. Three years later, Lin said at a symposium: "Because of that fire that destroyed the old rehearsal space, Cloud Gate can now look toward 50 years of future challenges and happiness."
In 2011, the Cloud Gate Theatre opened in Tamsui, becoming Taiwan's first theater built with private fundraising.
Going Global, Staying Local
Under Lin's leadership, Cloud Gate began touring internationally in 1983, eventually performing on all five continents with over 300 overseas performances. In 2018, Cloud Gate received the UK National Dance Awards' "Outstanding Company Award."
But Lin never forgot local responsibilities despite international success. Cloud Gate continues annual outdoor performances across Taiwan, from Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei to remote townships, making modern dance accessible to more people. Lin once said: "If we removed outdoor performances, Cloud Gate would immediately fall ill and need hospitalization."
⚠️ Different Perspectives
While Cloud Gate's outdoor performances are widely popular, some dance critics
question whether this "audience-pleasing" approach might affect artistic purity.
Lin's response: "I am a choreographer trained by outdoor audiences."
International Recognition and Lifetime Achievement
In 2013, Lin received the Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement, known as the "Nobel Prize of Modern Dance." He was the fifth recipient after Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Pina Bausch, and William Forsythe, and the first Asian choreographer to receive this honor.
He also received Germany's Movimentos International Dance Festival Lifetime Achievement Award (2009), the Rockefeller III Award, France's Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters, and other major international honors.
But for Lin, the greatest achievement might not be these awards, but the complete ecosystem Cloud Gate established: from Cloud Gate Dance Theatre to Cloud Gate 2 to Cloud Gate School, he built a comprehensive system for modern dance to take root in Taiwan.
Succession: From Lin Hwai-min to Cheng Tsung-lung
A car accident in 2017 made the 70-year-old Lin begin thinking about succession. At the end of 2019, he officially retired, handing Cloud Gate to Cheng Tsung-lung, former artistic director of Cloud Gate 2.
"If I don't retire, he'll become Prince Charles," Lin joked.
This succession process took years, with Lin deliberately cultivating his successor to ensure Cloud Gate's artistic spirit would continue. In 2020, Cheng officially became Cloud Gate's artistic director, presenting his first work as successor, "Formosa."
Lin once said: "I hope Cloud Gate is a brand, not one person's dance company." Under his 46 years of leadership, Cloud Gate created 90 dance works and trained countless dancers, many of whom became important dancers and choreographers, forming the influence of the "Cloud Gate School."
The End of an Era and a New Beginning
In 2000, Lin received the National Award for Arts. In 2019, his novel Cicadas celebrated its 50th anniversary with a commemorative edition. In 2022, his published memoir "Torrent and Reflection" won the Golden Books Award at the Taiwan Literature Awards and the Grand Prize for Non-fiction at the Taipei International Book Exhibition.
From novelist to dancer, from one person's impulse to a generational icon, Lin used half a century to prove one thing: true artists are not imitators but creators. He brought modern dance to Taiwan from nothing to something, from niche to mainstream, from local to international.
✦ "In a person's life, everything can be taken away except dreams." —Lin Hwai-min
Cloud Gate's 50 years tell a story of persistent dreams and reflect Taiwan's cultural journey from weakness to strength. On Cloud Gate's stage, we see not just dance, but the soul of this island in motion.
References
- Cloud Gate Official Website - Founder
- The News Lens: Cloud Gate Dance Theatre Goes from Small Island to Global
- Taiwan Remembers You: Lin Hwai-min
- Lin Hwai-min - Wikipedia
- Cloud Gate Dance Theatre - Wikipedia
- The New York Times: In Taiwan, a Contemporary Dance Troupe Brings in the Crowds
- The Reporter: Backward is Forward - Cloud Gate's "Legacy" Returns from Historical Peaks
- The News Lens: Lin Hwai-min Announces 2019 Retirement
- The Reporter: After That Fire, Where is Cloud Gate Theatre Heading?
- China Times: Lin Hwai-min's Novel "Cicadas" Marks 50 Years