•Publication Date：05/29/2012
•Source： Taiwan Today
•By Kwangyin Liu
Taiwan’s Cloud Gate Dance Theatre will be touring the world again with its magnum opus, “Nine Songs,” following a four-year hiatus, troupe founder Lin Hwai-min announced May 28.
When a fire broke out at the group’s rehearsal site in northern New Taipei City in early 2008, most of the manuscripts, props, costumes and music used for this piece were destroyed.
“However, the masks worn by dancers representing the gods all survived intact, even though the trunk they were in exploded,” the internationally acclaimed choreographer said at a Taipei City news conference. “Their rebirth from the ashes inspired us to re-create the work.”
Inspired by poems with the same title written by Chinese statesman Qu Yuan around 2,400 years ago, “Nine Songs” combines ancient shaman’s songs used in religious rituals with modern motifs, featuring a collage of Chinese, Indian, Japanese and Tibetan musical styles.
The two-hour work, which premiered in 1993, marking the group’s 20th anniversary, has been performed in countries including Australia, Austria, France, Germany, Singapore and the U.S. over the past two decades.
Starting September in Taipei, the four-month tour will take the show to Chiayi, Hualien, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Hong Kong and Macau. Over the next year, the troupe is scheduled to tour Beijing, Moscow and Shanghai, followed by appearances in London and other major cities across Europe in 2014.
Established in 1973, Cloud Gate is Taiwan’s most globally renowned performance troupe.
