Lin Hwai-min

Lin Hwai-min (; born 19 February 1947) is a Taiwanese dancer, writer, choreographer, and founder of Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan.

Biography

Family Lin was born in Xingang, Chiayi. He came from an intellectual family. His great-grandfather was a poet and a businessman who founded a school during the Japanese colonial period. His grandfather was a doctor and his father, Lin Chin-sheng, obtained a law degree from the Tokyo Imperial University. After Chiang Kai-shek established rule in Taiwan in 1949, Lin's father held several important political positions, including the office of Chiayi County Magistrate from 1951 to 1954. His mother Lin Cheng Pen-pen graduated from the Tokyo Economics College. He is the oldest of five children.

Lin attended Chun Wen Elementary School in Chiayi for one year before transferring to Taichung First High School. He next moved to Weido, a private Catholic Brothers’ boy school.

Encountering dance Lin was first introduced to dance at the age of five, when he saw the British film The Red Shoes. His interest piqued further after he saw a performance by American José Limón Dance Company in Taichung. In the 1960s, when modern dance was gaining popularity in Taiwan, Lin enrolled in a dance studio but gave up after three months as he felt he could not learn much from it. Later on, Lin attended workshops by renowned dancers such as Chungliang Al Huang and Yen Lo-Wong.

Cloud Gate Dance Theater

In 1973, he founded the Cloud Gate Dance Theater. Since its inauguration, Lin has served as the company’s founder, resident choreographer as well as its artistic director. He disbanded the group in October 1988, traveled to India, Indonesia, and New York University, before returning to Taiwan in 1990 to restart the troupe. Following the continued success of the company, he founded Cloud Gate 2 in 1999. His intention was to form a Chinese dance group to perform works composed and choreographed by Chinese for the Chinese audience. This formed the vision of the dance group in the early years, as Lin would later call it "a very Chinese period". However, despite his international success, Lin remains deeply rooted in Taiwan, refusing a position to direct a major European dance company. He said, "How could I leave Taiwan? It is where all my friends and family are. It is out of this that I create". traveled to Taiwan to build a new life on the island. Stylistically, Lin seamlessly combined acrobatics, gymnastics as well as traditional Chinese dance movements to recreate the nation's story on stage. What are ordinary physical laborer's actions of ploughing in the field and harvesting rice are artistically stylised. Legacy was composed at a time when political tensions between the United States, China and Taiwan were high. Coincidentally, it premiered on 16 December 1978 when President Jimmy Carter announced the end of diplomatic ties between the United States and Taipei.

Personal life Lin is openly gay and in a long-term relationship with Taiwanese writer and artist Chiang Xun. They live together in an apartment complex close to the Tamsui River in the Bali District of New Taipei City.