London, Moscow and the Kids of Chishang: Lin Hwai-min Reflects on His Years with Cloud Gate

Acclaimed by the Times as “one of the most significant contemporary choreographers of the world, a force as important as Pina Bausch, Merce Cunningham or William Forsythe”, Lin Hwai-min founded Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan in 1973 and has led the company to international prominence through his innovative creations that transform Asian aesthetics into contemporary celebration of motion.

Among the honors Mr. Lin has received are Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement, also known as the “Nobel Prize of Modern Dance”; the John D. Rockefeller Award, New York; the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters, France; Lifetime Achievement Award from the Movimentos International Dance Festival, Germany; Magsaysay Award, the Philippines, and six honorary doctorates from universities in Taiwan and Hong Kong. He has also been celebrated by Time magazine as one of “Asia’s Heroes”.

At the end of 2019, Lin Hwai-min stepped down as the Artistic Director of Cloud Gate, a position he had held for 46 years.