CLOUD GATE DANCE THEATRE OF TAIWAN

Close your eyes … and reopen them in one of the bustling thoroughfares of Bangka/Wanhua, Taipei’s oldest district. Where the young Cheng Tsung-lung grew up, gently rocked to sleep by his mother’s tales of a local popular figure, the artist Thirteen Tongues. In the sixties, this legendary storyteller took to the streets, with his noble or trivial human activities, his sacred rites and his secular festivals, transforming the district’s inhabitants into the characters of his inventive narratives. Thirty years later, the choreographer draws from his memories to recreate the thrilling clamour and haunting legends that marked his childhood. From folk songs to Taoist singing, electronics and the immemorial sound of a one-handed ritual bell, the music immerses the viewer in a fusional space-time. The religious heritage of the ancient Bangka/Wanhua – that of the spirit realm – blends with the contemporary face of human passions. Experienced in all styles, the thirteen – of course! – dancers of the troupe evolve in an immersive setting, recomposed through dazzling projections of lights and images. In spiritual connection with the deities, a fantastic world arises, carrying the memory of an entire people.

Cheng Tsung-lung, Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan

Founded in 1973 by Lin Hwai-min, Cloud Gate has been recognised as “one of the best international companies”. Its creations, nourished by traditional techniques as well as classical and contemporary dance, have been represented all over the world. Since 2020, it has been directed by dancer and choreographer Cheng Tsung-lung, who first joined the troupe in 2002 as a dancer before heading up Cloud Gate 2 in 2014. His latest piece, Send In A Cloud (2022), presents the dancers’ life journeys in changing colours.