Source: CCTV.com

05-08-2008 10:12

He is a celebrated choreographer who set out to create his own new landscape through his art. He's the heart of Cloud Gate, the first contemporary dance theater in the Chinese speaking world. He's been with his dancers for thirty some years, but he says he's always looking for the means of escape. In our "List" today, we meet Lin Hwai-min, a man with many stories.

Lin Hwai-min, founder of Taiwan-based Cloud Gate Dance Theater, is now 61. Cloud Gate is one of the most sought after contemporary dance groups in the world. Lin himself is lauded by European dance magazines as one of "The Most Important Contemporary Dancers" of the 20th century.

Lin once said limbs are his world; Laziness is his adversary; The ultimate goal for a dancer should never be the sound of applause, but the goal of self-fulfillment.

Lin Hwai-min was born into a family of intellectuals in South Taiwan. He once was a celebrated writer -- in the 1960s. In 1969 he went to America to continue his studies. During that time, Lin entered dance courses at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and the Merce Cunningham Dance Studio. He never intended his extra-curricular studies to form the basis of his life's career.

In 1973 Lin Hwai-min established the first contemporary dance theater in the Chinese speaking world. He called the theater: "Cloud Gate", a name derived from a long-lost dance form in China -- dating back some five thousand years.