LIN Hwai-min

LIN Hwai-min first achieved fame as a fiction writer. He began his dance training at the age of 23, while working on his MFA degree at the Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa. He founded Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan in Taipei in 1973.

A self-taught choreographer, LIN often draws from Asian cultures and aesthetics to create works filled with contemporary resonance. In 2013, he received the prestigious Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement. Previous recipients of this award have included Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Pina Bausch, and William Forsythe. LIN is the first recipient based in Asia.

Among his other honors are the John D. Rockefeller III Award, the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters from France’s Ministry of Culture, the Honorary Fellow of Trinity Laban (London), and honorary doctorates from six universities in Taiwan and Hong Kong. He was also selected by the Time magazine as one of “Asia’s Heroes.”

At the end of 2019, LIN retired from the position of artistic director of Cloud Gate. He was succeeded by CHENG Tsung-lung.