Sunday, October 27, 2024 2:00 PM
Power Center
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan
13 Tongues
Season tickets on sale 5/1 for general public.
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre returns to Ann Arbor for the first time since 2011 with a “sensationally big, indulgent, and visually arresting expression of cultural memory.” (The Times)
Founded by choreographer Lin Hwai-min in 1973 as the first contemporary dance company in any Chinese-speaking community, Cloud Gate blends its roots in Asian mythology, folklore, and aesthetics with a modern sensibility. In 2020, Lin Hwai-min handed the artistic reins of Cloud Gate to Cheng Tsung-lung, whose work 13 Tongues recalls his mother’s stories about a legendary street artist in the 1960s. Cheng transforms his childhood memories of Taoist rites and the bustling street life of Bangka (艋舺), the oldest district in Taipei, into a dreamlike fantasy world. Beginning and ending with the sound of a single hand bell, the evocative musical score interweaves Taiwanese folk songs, Taoist chant, and electronica to bring us on a journey from the ancient to the contemporary.
13 Tongues was commissioned by the National Performing Arts Center – National Theater & Concert Hall, Taipei.
This tour is made possible in part by grants from the Ministry of Culture, Republic of China (Taiwan).
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Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan
13 Tongues
Power Center
Renewals start 4/24 for current subscribers.
Season tickets on sale 5/1 for general public.
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From street hawker selling slippers to internationally recognized choreographer, Cheng Tsung-lung succeeded Lin Hwai-min as Artistic Director of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan starting in 2020.
Cheng took his first dance class at the age of 8. Upon graduation from the Dance Department, Taipei National University of the Arts, he joined Cloud Gate in 2002 and became the Artistic Director of Cloud Gate 2 in 2014.
He had won top prizes in international choreography competitions, including the Premio Roma Danza International Choreography Competition, and became widely known in the dance world for breathtaking works inspired by the street life and folk religion that was part of his upbringing in the oldest commercial district of Taipei.
Cheng’s works exude a humble beauty rooted in Asian culture. His 13 Tongues (2016), incorporating folk steps, religious rites, and Taoist chanting into a contemporary expression, has received raving reviews from France, Germany, and China. French media credited it as “a triumph…appealing to the eyes.” Full Moon (2017), commissioned by Sydney Dance Company, has been acclaimed in Paris and Sydney. Set to music specially arranged by Sigur Rós and hailed as a work of “fierce beauty,” Lunar Halo (2019) brought the house down in its premiere season and garnered invitations from worldwide. Sounding Light (2020) reflects on the relationship between humans and nature, being praised as a “beautifully crafted work, bearing repeated viewings.” Visually stunning, Send In A Cloud (2022) displays in shifting colors a panorama of dancers’ life journeys.
Cheng has been a fixture of Routledge’s respected annual survey of dance practitioners, Fifty Contemporary Choreographers (2020), alongside the likes of William Forsythe, Akram Khan, Hofesh Shechter, and leaders in the form.