Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan presents: RICE
Choreography by Lin Hwai-min
Wednesday, September 23, 7:30 p.m., Fine Arts Center Concert Hall
Spotlight Taiwan events are funded in part by the Ministry of Culture, Republic of China (Taiwan) and Special patron Dr. Samuel Yin, with additional support from Five Colleges, Incorporated.
Choreographer Lin Hwai-min is heralded as one of the original Dance multiculturalists drawing his inspiration from traditional Asian culture and aesthetics. With dancers trained in meditation, Qi Gong, martial arts, modern dance and ballet, his company transforms traditional Taiwanese dance vocabulary into thrilling modern celebrations of motion. “Rice” was created to mark the troupe’s 40th anniversary and was inspired by the energy and resplendence of Chihshang in the East Rift Valley of Taiwan, home of “Emperor’s Rice.” Set to the music of Hakka folk songs - the oldest among the existing Chinese dialect, operatic arias and sounds from the fields, and against a video backdrop that depicts the life cycle of a rice paddy.
RICE
Chihshang was previously tainted by the use of chemical fertilizer; yet farming village has now regained its title as Land of Emperor Rice by adopting organic farming.
Awed by the immense waves of grain rolling across expansive fields of rice, and inspired by the environmentally-conscious farmers, Lin took the dancers to Chihshang, where they joined the farmers in harvesting the rice. Out of this experience in the field, Lin has created exuberant yet powerful movements woven through Soil, Sunlight, Wind, Water and Fire, telling the story of the land while contemplating the devastation of Earth.
A cinematographer spent two years on location capturing the cultivation of rice: flooding, sprouting, harvesting and burning. These video images – of clouds reflected in the water, rice swaying in the wind, and fire ravaging the fields – have become the essential visual elements of the production. Immersed in this landscape, the formidable Cloud Gate dancers, trained in Qi Gong and internal martial arts, enact a human drama parallel to the life cycle of rice. A work about death and rebirth, devastation and resurrection.
Rice is an international co-production by Sadler’s Wells Theatre London; HELLERAU European Center for the Arts Dresden, Germany; The National Theater & Concert Hall, the National Performing Arts Center, Taiwan, R.O.C.; NewVision Arts Festival, Hong Kong; and Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, Singapore.
Audience members are invited to stay for a post-performance talk with the Company’s Artistic Director in Rand Theater immediately following the performance.
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