Rite of Spring, Taipei, 1984
林懷民 (LIN Hwai-min)
Rite of Spring, Taipei, 1984
1984
Video (record expert)
18’14”
Courtesy of the Cloud Gate Arts & Culture Foundation
This dance theater work reflects the restless social climate in Taiwan during the 1980s, transforming the rustic and mysterious Russian myth into urban street scenes of Taipei. Choreographer Lin Hwai-min skillfully relocates the “rite” under the metropolis and captures a craze of money chasing mindset right before and after the lifting of martial law in Taiwan.
Artist description
LIN Hwai-Min founded Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan in 1973, and founded the Department of Dance, National Institute of the Arts (now as the Taipei National University of the Arts) in 1983. He often gets inspiration from Asian traditional culture and aesthetics and transform into contemporary motion. He is an internationally well-known choreographer whose many works have been awarded as the best dance of the year by international major media. In 2013, LIN has received American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement which is known as the Nobel Prize of Modern Dance, after Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Pina Bausch, William Forsythe.
LIN also received the honorary doctorate from six universities of Taiwan and Hong Kong, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, Ramon Magsaysay Award, John D. Rockefeller 3rd Award, Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Movimentos Lifetime Award, ISPA Distinguished Artist Award, National Cultural Award and Taiwan Contribution Award. He is also celebrated by Time magazine as one of Asia’s Heroes. At the end of 2019, LIN retired from Cloud Gate Dance after 46 years of management.