Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan
Moon Water
Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley
Oct. 31-Nov. 1, 8 p.m.,
For more info: 510-642-9988 or www.calperfs.berkeley.edu
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Nov. 18, 20-22, 7:30 p.m.,
For more info: 718-636-4100
What do Bach and tai chi have in common? Quite a lot, according to Lin Hwai-min. Lin is the director of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan. In his acclaimed dancework Moon Water, he fuses Chinese traditional arts with Bach’s “Six Suites for Solo Cello,” played by Mischa Maisky.
“Johann Sebastian Bach lives right in my living room,” smiles Lin. “We are good friends. And while thinking about work developed from the principles of tai chi, Mischa Maisky’s playing of Bach immediately came to mind. … He stretches the musical line, and we need that to start each movement in order to be very close to the floor and stretch your body.
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre brings Moon Water to UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall this Friday and Saturday for its Bay Area debut.
Arriving in San Francisco a week before the performances, Lin talks about his life in the quiet of his hotel room. And what a life it is. In a short 30 years, he has become a major force in dance, creating a modern company based on ancient Chinese philosophies.
Cloud Gate dancers look like no other. In Moon Water, which Lin choreographed in 1998, their sinuous limbs and torsos express the essence of Bach’s melodies. Serene, meditative, otherworldly.
At the piece’s closing, water drenches their bodies, a metaphor for renewal. London’s Daily Telegraph called it “a dream of a show, an experience of beauty.”
“In recent years, my life and work has been tremendously affected by a river right outside my window,” Lin says. “It keeps moving. It’s breathing. … And that keeps me alive.”
“Maybe because according to fortune tellers, they said I was born at the time of water. I don’t know. If I could explain it, I wouldn’t have to choreograph so many pieces, especially Moon Water.”
Lin’s passion for dance bloomed from a Hollywood classic. He says, “I fell in love with dance when I was 5-1/2 after seeing that famous film The Red Shoes 11 times.”
When he was 14, he took his first ballet class. He recalls, “The same year I saw Jose Limon doing Moor’s Pavane in Taiwan, and I said, ‘My God. I witnessed God dancing.’ And that was the beginning of the whole trouble.”
But with few opportunities in dance in Taiwan, Lin pursued a literary career instead. A published novelist, he studied creative writing at University of Iowa. There, he ended up minoring in dance. Compelled by national pride, he returned home in the early ’70s.
“At that time, Taiwan was kicked out of the U.N.,” Lin says. “So, we are the first generation of Taiwanese students studying in the U.S. who went back home because of that wake-up call.”
“I wanted to do everything. … If there were a Green movement, I would do; anti-smoking, I would do. But I happened to bump into a bunch of dancers and they said ‘teach us.’ “
“At that time, there were no videos, and very few dance companies visited Taiwan. … So, everything had to start from scraths, from my own environment, so it’s only natural for me to adapt to Chinese themes.”
Today, the company offers free outdoor shows in Taiwan, drawing as many as 60,000 people. With tears in his eyes, Lin remembers a particular event, which commemorated Taiwan’s 1999 earthquake.
“The second day after the earthquake, the whole company rushed there to help out,” he says. “We saw buildings fallen and destroyed. So much death. We even had to help remove some of the bodies.”
“After, we gave an outdoor performance. … People came from all over. A lady told us that people finally smiled after these days. … Normally, people in Taiwan don’t give you [a] standing ovation, but that evening the audience just stood up like [a] wave.”
Lin insists all 28 dancers of his company immerse themselves in tai chi, martial arts and meditation.
“Nowadays, when Cloud Gate dancers are onstage, they no longer perform for the audience,” Lin says. “They don’t project outward. … The energy is more deep inside themselves, and they are making their own journey in a way.”
“If I could, I would like to strip all of my dancers naked because they are so beautiful to watch. … Their bodies speak even if they stand still.”