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Edmund Lee

When asked about the 40th anniversary celebration of his company, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, Lin Hwai-min looks surprisingly dejected. "Do you want the truth? Do you want to know how I really feel?"
He lets out a dramatic sigh. "There hasn't been time to enjoy it, and there hasn't been time to get panicked."

	I spent my childhood in a rural village in Chiayi. I'm so familiar with the rice fields

	lin hwai-min
As the troupe's founder and artistic director, Lin's hectic daily schedule would put many prolific artists to shame. Working every day from 11am to 6.30pm in the studio, and taking care of business from home on his iPad for the rest of the evening, the 67-year-old's life could prove daunting for people half his age.
"If I had known it would turn out like this, I wouldn't have started Cloud Gate at all. It's a crazy life," says Lin with a bitter smile while sitting barefoot on the floor of a private room in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
Watch: Lin Hwai-min brings newest dance production, “Rice”, to Hong Kong

"When things go smoothly, I'm thankful; when they don't, I rush to fix them. That's my life."
Recently in the city to promote Rice, which premiered at the National Theatre Hall in Taipei last November and is a highlight of this year's New Vision Arts Festival, Lin and his dance company will be working simultaneously on five different pieces in the next two months.

The troupe has been touring with Songs of the Wanderers, Pine Smoke and Rice, and there is a new double bill. The two new pieces, set to premiere in mid-November, are White Water and Little Dusts. The first of these features dancers performing to a piano soundtrack in white costumes created by designer Ma Ke, while the other piece is set to Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No 8.
And then there's Cloud Gate's yet-to-be-completed complex in Danshui; building work began soon after the company's rehearsal space was destroyed by fire in 2008.
With its basic infrastructure scheduled to be completed on November 10, this permanent home will include a 450-seat theatre, whose size and equipment will match those of the National Theatre; two huge rehearsal studios that can be converted into a black box theatre; and there is an outdoor site that can accommodate about 2,000 people.
When Cloud Gate goes on tour, which happens often, the venue can be used as a production theatre for other companies to run extended rehearsals and to revive older pieces.
"The building will also house about 100 people from Cloud Gate," Lin says. "Isn't that amazing?"

	The man who's been setting the standard for Asian contemporary dance for more than four decades - and shows up alone, without an entourage, for the interview - admits this is likely to be his last publicity tour.
"I'm tired of flying and talking about myself," he says, before dismissing the notion that he's a workaholic. "I could stay in my flat for a week without going out. I enjoy washing dishes, mopping the floor, sewing my underwear, reading: I do lots of things."

	Lin claims he doesn't wear only one colour, yet he's rarely seen in anything but his signature all-black. "I've brought three more of these T-shirts on my trip," says Lin, who estimates he has more than 30 of the same black Muji tops at home . "When I got this pair of trousers, from Taiwanese clothing brand Net, I bought 20 pairs in one go."
He says he's just been on the "biggest shopping spree in my life. In three days, I travelled all over Taiwan and spent NT$5 million [about HK$1.3 million] on 290 trees for the new complex."
Lin enjoyed the chance to get close to nature while procuring the trees to comply with government regulations. Without that passion, he wouldn't have put together such a rich diversity of trees, which ensures flowers will be in bloom throughout each season at Cloud Gate's new home - nor would he have created the work Rice.

The piece is thoughtful in its chronicling of the cyclical changes of nature, but also simple enough for general consumption.
Featuring immersive projections of paddy fields - a videographer spent two years in the Chihshang region capturing more than 100 hours of footage - Rice is a homage to the farmers, many of whom Lin has invited to the show's performances in rural villages.
The choreographer, whose other works about rice include Legacy and Songs of the Wanderers, says: "I was just pulled back to the subject; I spent my childhood in a rural village in Chiayi. I'm so familiar with the rice fields."
Lin sees the building of the theatre as a way for him to put his retirement plans into action. "I'm getting old. This company may disappear when I retire: many companies are like that. My works will then disappear.
"They're too difficult to dance," he whispers, then starts to giggle. "That's why I want to have the building to preserve the possibilities."
Over the past decade, Lin has faced the desire to choreograph more new pieces along with the need to revive older ones. "It's the same problem every choreographer faces. When [the late] Pina Bausch sat down with me, before she'd even finished her first cigarette, she asked, 'How much time do you have to choreograph new works?' It's the same with Trisha Brown. To keep the company going, you must go on tours."

	I'm getting old. This company may disappear when I retire: my works will then disappear

	Lin hwai-min
In spite of that, Lin - who has been "wrapping up" his representative works, one by one, and has bid farewell to classics such as  Nine Songs and  The Dream of the Red Chamber - says the 2016 London run of  Songs of the Wanderers, arguably the best known of the Cloud Gate repertoire, will be its last.
"Growing up in the '60s, we thought young people like us could make a change," says Lin, who describes himself in the early '70s as "not a dancer, just a young intellectual living my dreams".
"When I came back from the US - where I was a writer teaching at a university - I started a dance company without any professional experience. I thought it could serve the community. We thought we were going to perform only for students on campus and for the grassroots people in the community.
"I'm happy to say we're still doing what we set out to do - despite all the international complications," he says - probably referring to the demands posed by Cloud Gate's tours and his renown as a choreographer. "We're still going into the villages to perform - and I think that's a blessing."
Rice, Cultural Centre Grand Theatre, 10 Salisbury Road, TST, November 6-8, 8.15pm, November 9, 3pm, HK$180-HK$480 Urbtix. Inquiries: 2370 1044 


Cloud Gate choreographer Lin Hwai-min looks back on a life dedicated to dance

A scene from Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan's Rice.

Lin Hwai-min 

Scenes from Cloud Gate's productions of Rice. Photos: Nora Tam, Liu Chen-hsiang

Open-air performance in Taipei, with banners that read, "May there be timely winds and rains yielding abundant harvests" and "May the country prosper and its people live in peace". Photo: Lee Chia-yeh

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Lin Hwai-min is winding down his illustrious 40-year-plus career, but the Taiwanese choreographer is keen to see that his work lives on


Cloud Gate choreographer Lin Hwai-min looks back on a life dedicated to dance

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Lin Hwai-min is winding down his illustrious 40-year-plus career, but the Taiwanese choreographer is keen to see that his work lives on

Lin Hwai-min is winding down his illustrious 40-year-plus career, but the Taiwanese choreographer is keen to see that his work lives on