Lin Hwai-min’s Rice Field: An Ancestral Temple Production
Rice Field is one of the few color films in Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. Lin Hwai-min moved the Chishang rice fields on the east coast of Taiwan to the stage through images. In order to record the life cycle of a rice field, photographer Zhang Haoran visited Chishang many times over the course of two years, from the first seedlings, ear setting, harvesting, burning the field, to the next year when the spring water refills the field.
These beautiful and extraordinary images are intertwined with panoramic and close-up projections by video designer Wang Yisheng on the ceiling and floor of the stage, creating a soul-stirring dance space. Wang Yisheng also won the "Bright Knight Award" at the 2014 British Theater Image Design Award for "Rice".
Personal introduction of Lin Hwai-min:
Lin Hwai-min, an internationally renowned Taiwanese choreographer. Born in Chiayi, Taiwan in 1947. He began publishing novels at the age of 14, and published "Cicada" at the age of 22. He was a writer who attracted much attention in Taipei's literary circles in the 1960s and 1970s. He studied journalism at National Chengchi University in college; while studying in the United States, he studied modern dance while studying for a degree.
In 1972, he graduated from the novel writing class of the English Department of the University of Iowa in the United States and received a master's degree in art. In 1973, Lin Hwai-min founded the "Cloud Gate Dance Theatre", which promoted the development of Taiwan's modern performing arts. Cloud Gate has been performed in both urban and rural areas of Taiwan, frequently creating a sensation. It often performs professionally abroad and has received numerous critical acclaims.
On the evening of July 27, 2019, the Taiwanese modern dance performance group - Cloud Gate Dance Theater performed "Selected Dances of Lin Hwai-min" for charity at the Taipei Liangtingyuan Art Plaza. This is the farewell work of Lin Hwai-min, the famous Taiwanese dance creator and founder of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre.