Lin Hsui-min

30-Second Overview: In 1973, Lin Hsui-min (林懷民), a 26-year-old novelist with no professional dance background, founded "Cloud Gate Dance Theatre," Taiwan's first professional modern dance company. Not only did this troupe become the first contemporary dance company in the Chinese-sweaking world, but it has also remained active on the international stage for over 50 years, described by The New York Times as "Asia's most important contemporary dance company."

In 1970, 23-year-old Lin Hsui-min was studying creative writing at the University of Iowa's "Writer's Workshop" in the United States. That year, he had already published his famous work Cicada (蟬), making him a prominent young figure in Taiwan's literary circles. But one night in a foreign land, he walked into a dance studio, beginning an adventure that would fundamentally transform Taiwan's performing arts.

No one could have imagined that three years later, this novelist would found the first professional modern dance company in the Chinese-speaking world and sustain it for half a century.

From Literature to the Body: An Unexpected Turn

Lin Hsui-min was born in 1947 into a distinguished family in Xingang, Chiayi. His great-grandfather was a scholar from the late Qing Dynasty, his grandfather was a renowned physician who studied in Japan, and his father, Lin Chin-sheng, was the first magistrate of Chiayi County. In such a scholarly household, it seemed only natural for Lin to pursue literature—he began publishing novels at age 14 and published Cicada at 22. The work, which depicted the youthful confusion of Taiwanese youth in the 1960s at the Star Coffee House in Ximending, marked an era.

💡 Did You Know?
Lin Hsui-min fell in love with dance after watching the film Red Camellia (紅菱艷) at age five, but he did not formally begin training until age 23.

However, this literary youth's detour in Iowa opened a brand-new door for Taiwan. In 1970, he began formal dance training, studying for his degree while simultaneously researching modern dance. After returning to Taiwan with a Master of Arts in 1972, he made an "impulsive" decision: to found a modern dance company.

It was 1973. There were no government subsidies, no professional venues, and not even enough dancers. Lin Hsui-min and several like-minded young people began Cloud Gate's very first performance in an experimental theater.

Cloud Gate: A Modern Revolution of an Ancient Name

"Cloud Gate" refers to a legendary ritual dance from the era of the Yellow Emperor. Lin's choice of this ancient name was no accident. He aspired to create choreography rooted in his own culture, rather than mere imitations of Western modern dance. More importantly, he told the media that Cloud Gate's ultimate goal was "to dance for all people."

In 1973, this sounded like an impossible mission. Modern dance was a near-blank slate in Taiwan—where were the audiences? Where was the funding? Yet Lin Hsui-min and his Cloud Gate turned the impossible into the possible, step by step.

In 1978, Lin took his dancers to the banks of the Xindian River to carry stones, experiencing the physical movements of ancestral laborers, to choreograph Legacy (薪傳)—an epic dance drama depicting the history of "wood boats crossing Wu Water, and Tangshan migrants crossing to Taiwan." It was the first theatrical work themed around Taiwanese history.

📝 Curator's Note
The premiere of Legacy took place on December 16, 1978, the very day the United States announced it was severing diplomatic ties with the Republic of China. Over the course of two months, this dance drama, which depicted ancestors braving dark waters and struggling to colonize the land, comforted and inspired over 20,000 spectators.

This was no coincidence; it was a historical punctuation mark. At a moment when Taiwanese society most needed cultural identity, Cloud Gate used the body to tell the story of this land.

The Modern Language of the Eastern Body

What is most admirable about Lin Hsui-min is his deep excavation and modern transformation of Eastern culture. _Nine Songs (九歌, 1993) was adapted from Qu Yuan's eponymous poem, transforming the artistic conception of classical literature into a dynamic aesthetic of dance. Song of the Wanderer (流浪者之歌, 1994) drew inspiration from Hermann Hesse's novels and Buddhist scriptures; in 1994, Lin personally went on a pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya, where the Buddha attained enlightenment. Upon his return, he choreographed this work, which transformed Asian religious rituals into contemporary theatrical ceremony.

Pine Smoke (松煙, 2003) was inspired by Song Dynasty landscape paintings, with dancers moving like ink droplets through swirling mist. Rice (稻禾, 2013) brought the life cycle of the Chishang rice paddies to the stage; in 2013, it even performed in the actual rice fields of Chishang, Taitung, allowing dance to merge with the land.

These works embody Lin's aesthetic philosophy of "the body as landscape." He believed that the Eastern body contains cultural codes different from the West, and that modern dance should draw nourishment from its own cultural soil.

A review in The New York Times wrote: "Lin Hsui-min has successfully fused Western and Eastern dance techniques and theatrical concepts."

Fire and Rebirth: The Calamity of 2008

At 1:00 AM on February 11, 2008, during the early hours of the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, a single phone call shattered Lin Hsui-min's peace. Cloud Gate's rehearsal studio in Bali, which had been used for 16 years, was completely destroyed by a massive fire.

"The person calling was a young woman who lived near the rehearsal studio; she happened to be awake. I didn't know her, and I didn't know how she got my number... I rushed there immediately, and I was terrified by the scene," Lin recalled later.

Performance props, years of archives, and costumes were almost entirely lost to the flames. For a company that had already existed for 3_5 years, this was equivalent to burning away their collective memory.

However, this disaster instead galvanized unprecedented support from Taiwanese society. With help from various sectors, Cloud Gate raised over 370 million TWD for reconstruction. Three years later, Lin said at a symposium: "Because a fire burned down the old rehearsal studio, Cloud Gate can now look forward to the challenges and happiness of the next 50 years."

In 2011, the Cloud Gate Theater was completed in Tamsui, becoming Taiwan's first theater built through private fundraising.

Going Global, Staying Local

Under Lin's leadership, since its first European tour in 1983, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre has traveled to all five continents, with over 300 overseas performances. In 2018, Cloud Gate was awarded the "Outstanding Dance Company" award at the UK National Dance Awards.

Yet, Lin Hsui-min never forgot his local responsibilities due to international success. Every year, Cloud Gate conducts outdoor performances across Taiwan—from Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to remote townships—giving more people the chance to encounter modern dance. Lin once said: "If you take away the outdoor performances, Cloud Gate would immediately fall ill and end up in the hospital."

⚠️ Controversial Viewpoint
While Cloud Gate's outdoor performances are widely popular, some dance critics have questioned whether this "audience-pleasing" approach affects artistic purity. Lin's response was: "I am a choreographer trained by outdoor audiences."

International Recognition and Lifetime Achievement

In 2013, Lin Hsui-min received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the American Dance Festival, an honor often referred to as the "Nobel Prize of Modern Dance." He was the fifth person to receive this, following Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Pina Bausch, and William Forsythe, and the first Asian choreographer to be so honored.

Additionally, he has received other major international awards, such as the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Germany Tanz im Fokus International Dance Festival (2009), the Rockefeller III Award in the US, and the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in France.

But for Lin Hsui-min, his greatest achievement may not be these awards, but the complete ecosystem Cloud Gate has established: from Cloud Gate Dance Theatre and Cloud Gate 2 to Cloud Gate Dance Studios, he has built a comprehensive system that allowed modern dance to take root in Taiwan.

Succession: From Lin Hsui-min to Cheng Tsung-lung

In 2017, a car accident caused the 70-year-old Lin Hsui-min to begin thinking about succession. At the end of 2019, he officially retired, handing the baton of Cloud Gate to Cheng Tsung-lung (鄭宗龍), who had previously served as the Artistic Director of Cloud Gate 2.

"If I didn't retire, he would turn into Prince Charles," Lin joked.

This succession process took many years; Lin deliberately nurtured his successor to ensure that the artistic spirit of Cloud Gate could continue. In 2020, Cheng Tsung-lung officially took over as Artistic Director of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, presenting his first work after taking the helm, Dingguang (定光).

Lin Hsui-min once said: "I hope Cloud Gate is a brand, not a one-man dance company." Under his 46 years of leadership, Cloud Gate has choreographed 90 works and trained countless dancers, many of whom have become important dancers and choreographers themselves, creating the influence known as the "Cloud Gate Style."

The End and Beginning of an Era

In 2000, Lin Hsui-min received the National Cultural Award. In 2019, a 50th-anniversary edition of his novel Cicada was released. In 2022, his book Turbulence and Reflections (激流與倒影) won both the Golden Classic Award of the Taiwan Literature Awards and the first prize for Non-fiction at the Taipei International Book Exhibition.

From novelist to dancer, from an individual's impulse to a symbol of an era, Lin Hsui-min used half a century to prove one thing: a true artist is not an imitator, but a creator. He brought modern dance from nothingness to existence in Taiwan, moving it from the niche to the masses, and from local to international.

✦ "In a person's life, everything can be taken away; only dreams cannot." — Lin Hsui-min

Cloud Gate's 50 years is a story of pursuing dreams, and a microcosm of Taiwan's culture growing from nothing to something, from weakness to strength. On the Cloud Gate stage, what moves is the very soul of this island.

From Literature to the Body: An Unexpected Turn

Cloud Gate: A Modern Revolution of an Ancient Name

The Modern Language of the Eastern Body

Fire and Rebirth: The Calamity of 2008

Going Global, Staying Local

International Recognition and Lifetime Achievement

Succession: From Lin Hsui-min to Cheng Tsung-lung

The End and Beginning of an Era

References

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