Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan

Cloud Gate is the name of the oldest known dance in China. In 1973, choreographer LIN Hwai-min adopted this classical name and founded the first contemporary dance company in the greater Chinese-speaking community: Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, also known worldwide as Cloud Gate. In 2020, CHENG Tsung-lung succeeded LIN as the company’s artistic director.

Cloud Gate has set out to engage with local history, culture, and subject matter and draws on classical, folk, and modern dance from both the western and Asian traditions. Its dancers train in meditation; Qi Gong, an ancient breathing exercise; internal martial arts; contemporary dance; and ballet. Under the leadership of CHENG Tsung-lung, their training has further expanded to include studies in various styles of dance, such as street dance. Using these skills, the company transforms ancient aesthetics into a thrilling and modern celebration of motion.

Cloud Gate has received a wide range of international acclaim, including as “Asia’s leading contemporary dance theater” (The Times), and “one of the best dance companies in the world” (Frankfurter Allge­meine Zeitung). The ensemble was also honored as the “Outstanding Company” at the 2018 National Dance Awards (UK).

The artists have toured worldwide, with frequent engagements at New York’s Next Wave Festival, London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Moscow’s Chekhov International Theater Festival, and Germany’s Movimentos International Dance Festival and Internationales Tanzfest NRW, at that time directed by Pina Bausch.

Cloud Gate has also danced in many local communities and on numerous campuses. Its annual free outdoor performances—staged in cities and villages across Taiwan—draw a minimum of 30,000 people per performance, and are hailed as some of the world’s largest dance events.