Eclectic moves

LIN HWAI-MIN, founder and artistic director of the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, is conducting a photo shoot at his large dance studio on the outskirts of Taipei. A slight figure in an elegant black mandarin-style suit with Chinese slippers, he has given up his Saturday so a TV camera crew and I can follow him around for the day. It was only after much persuasion that he agreed to let some of his dancers come in.

'They work long and exhausting hours,' he says. 'So, when we're not touring, Saturdays are sacrosanct. It's a day of rest'.

But today, the dancers limber up in the cold studio, while the director positions the cameraman. 'No,' Lin says. 'You don't want to put it there. Here is much better. You'll get far more creative shots from this angle.' Lin directs a dancer to perform a graceful move - while instructing the cameraman. It's clear he's used to being in control.

In Taiwan, Cloud Gate are national heroes. The government proclaimed August 21 Cloud Gate Day, and a street in Taipei has been renamed Cloud Gate Lane. The troupe performs at venues ranging from the National Theatre to outdoor shows that draw audiences of 60,000. The formation of Cloud Gate 2, which has 20 dance schools throughout Taiwan, has further cemented its position as the island's premier dance group.

Cloud Gate, who tour extensively and will be in Macau later this month, have also been acclaimed overseas. Last year, The New York Times called Lin's Moon Water 'the best production in New York. [It's] not about meditation. It is meditation.' Set to the melodies of J.S. Bach's cello suites, it's a slow dance that displays martial-arts movements and poses reminiscent of Chinese opera - slow until a burst of innovation and surprises fill the theatre at the end.

The name of the troupe refers to what is regarded as China's oldest dance, dating back 5,000 years, but Cloud Gate combines old and new, east and west. Aboriginal Taiwanese songs, Chinese calligraphy, martial arts and the strains of western classical music can come together with such images as three tonnes of rice strewn on the stage, or a stage glistening under a layer of water. The eclectic nature of the work comes from Taiwan.

Lin describes his homeland as 'having a junk yard for a personality. It's a laboratory. Taiwan has got to be one of the freest places in the world. For example, if you stage a play in which everyone is naked, you might not even get a mention in the newspapers. Here, anything and everything goes.' For Lin, Taiwan is 'a melting pot of many different influences and cultures. There's the legacy left by Japan's 50-year occupation, an aboriginal culture and a large amount of western influences.'