Friday, January 22, 8pm Saturday, January 23, 8pm Zellerbach Hall Berkeley RADICAL: The Natural World Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan Rice Lin Hwai-min, Founder and Artistic Director COMPANY Chou Chang-ning Huang Pei-hua Tsai Ming-yuan Huang Mei-ya Ko Wan-chun Liu Hui-ling Su I-ping Yang I-chun Hou Tang-li Lee Tzu-chun Lin Hsin-fang Wong Lap-cheong Chen Mu-han Kuo Tzu-wei Wang Po-nien Yeh Yi-ping Chen Tsung-chiao Cheng Hsi-ling Fan Chia-hsuan Huang Hsiao-che Huang Li-chieh Huang Lu-kai Cal Performances’ – season is sponsored by Wells Fargo. 15 PROGRAM Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan Rice Concept/Choreography Lin Hwai-min Music Hakka traditional folk songs Drum music by Liang Chun-mei “Monochrome II” by Ishii Maki performed by Ondekoza “Casta Diva” from opera Norma by Vincenzo Bellini “Le Rossignol et la Rose” by Camille Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3 in D minor, Fourth Movement, by Gustav Mahler Set Design Lin Keh-hua Lighting Design Lulu W.L. Lee Projection Design Ethan Wang Videographer Chang Hao-jan (Howell) Costume Design/Execution Ann Yu Chien, Li-ting Huang and Department of Fashion Design from Shih Chien University Creative Assistant to Mr. Lin Liang Chun-mei Commission Co-productions Wen C. Ko National Theater & Concert Hall, the National Performing Arts Center, R.O.C. (Taiwan) Esplanade –Theatres on the Bay (Singapore) New Vision Arts Festival (Hong Kong) Sadler’s Wells Theatre (London) HELLERAU European Center for the Arts Dresden (Germany) Premiere November 22, 2013, National Theater, Taipei, Taiwan Rice is inspired by the life cycle of a rice paddy in Chihshang in the East Rift Valley of Taiwan—home of “Emperor’s Rice.” The music used in Rice is used with permission by Wind Music International Corporation; Nightingale Classics AG; Warner Classics; Universal Music Publishing Group; Victor Entertainment, Inc.; Deutsche Grammophon GmbH; and by arrangement with Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., o/b/o G. Ricordi & Co., Bühnen-und-Musikverlag GmbH. This tour of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan is made possible with grants from the Ministry of Culture, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan). PLAYBILL PROGRAM Soil Yang I-chun Chen Mu-han Cheng Hsi-ling Fan Chia-hsuan Ko Wan-chun Kuo Tzu-wei Lee Tzu-chun Liu Hui-ling Yeh Yi-ping Wind Ko Wan-chun Su I-ping Tsai Ming-yuan Chen Tsung-chiao Cheng Hsi-ling Fan Chia-hsuan Hou Tang-li Huang Mei-ya Huang Pei-hua Liu Hui-ling Chen Mu-han Chou Chen-yeh Huang Li-chieh Kuo Tzu-wei Lin Hsin-fang Wang Po-nien Yang I-chun Yeh Yi-ping Pollen I Chen Mu-han Chou Chen-yeh Fan Chia-hsuan Huang Li-chieh Kuo Tzu-wei Lee Tzu-chun Lin Hsin-fang Wang Po-nien Wong Lap-cheong Yeh Yi-ping Pollen II Huang Pei-hua Tsai Ming-yuan Sunlight Hou Tang-li Huang Lu-kai Huang Mei-ya Liu Hui-ling Su I-ping Wong Lap-cheong Grain Chou Chang-ning Cheng Hsi-ling Fan Chia-hsuan Ko Wan-chun Kuo Tzu-wei Lee Tzu-chun Liu Hui-ling Yeh Yi-ping Fire Chen Tsung-chiao Chou Chen-yeh Hou Tang-li Huang Li-chieh Huang Lu-kai Lin Hsin-fang Tsai Ming-yuan Wang Po-nien Wong Lap-cheong Water Yang I-chun Chen Mu-han Cheng Hsi-ling Chou Chang-ning Huang Mei-ya Huang Pei-hua Ko Wan-chun Kuo Tzu-wei Lee Tzu-chun Liu Hui-ling Su I-ping The running time of this performance is approximately 70 minutes, with no intermission. PROGRAM NOTES ABOUT RICE On the occasion of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Folksongs in Hakka, the oldest among the Taiwan’s 40th anniversary in 2013, the interna - existing Chinese dialects, and operatic arias tionally renowned Lin Hwai-min, who was hon - from the West, as well as the rustling of grain, ored with the prestigious Samuel H. Scripps/ soughing of wind, and pealing of thunder American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime recorded on-site, complete the soundscape. Achievement (2013), created Rice to revere the A cinematographer spent two years on lo - land that has nurtured “Asia’s leading contempo - cation capturing the cultivation of rice: flood - rary dance theatre” ( The Times, London ). ing, sprouting, harvesting, and burning of the The inspiration for Rice came from the field. These video images–of clouds reflected landscape and story of Chihshang in the East in the water, rice swaying in the wind, and fire Rift Valley of Taiwan. Previously tainted by ravaging the fields–have become the essential the use of chemical fertilizer, this farming vil - visual elements of the production. Immersed lage has now regained its title as the Land of in this landscape, the formidable Cloud Gate the Emperor’s Rice by adopting organic farm - dancers, trained in Qi Gong , and internal mar - ing and has exported its rice to EU countries. tial arts, enact a human drama parallel to the Awed by the immense waves of grain life cycle of rice. It is a work about death and rolling across expansive fields of rice, and in - rebirth, devastation, and resurrection. spired by the environmentally-conscious Rice is an international co-production farmers, Lin took his dancers to Chihshang, by Sadler’s Wells Theatre (London), where they joined the farmers in harvesting HELLERAU European Center for the Arts the rice. Out of this experience in the field, Lin Dresden (Germany), National Theater & has created exuberant yet powerful move - Concert Hall, the National Performing Arts ments woven through Soil, Sunlight, Wind, Center, R.O.C. (Taiwan), New Vision Arts Water, and Fire, telling the story of the land Festival (Hong Kong), and Esplanade– while contemplating the devastation of Earth. Theatres on the Bay (Singapore). PLAYBILL ABOUT THE ARTISTS CLOUD GATE DANCE THEATRE OF TAIWAN Lin Hwai-min (Founder and Artistic Director ) founded Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan in 1973, and also founded the Dance Department at the Taipei National University of the Arts in 1983, and Cloud Gate 2 in 1999. Lin often draws his inspiration from traditional Asian culture and loud Gate is the name of the oldest known aesthetics to create original works with con - Cdance in China. In 1973 choreographer temporary resonance. Lin Hwai-min adopted this classical name for Among the honors Lin Hwai-min has re - the first contemporary dance company in any ceived are honorary doctorates from six uni - Chinese speaking community. Its 24 dancers versities in Taiwan and Hong Kong, the receive training in meditation, Qi Gong , Taiwan National Award for Arts, the Ramon internal martial arts, modern dance, ballet, Magsaysay Award, the John D. Rockefeller III and calligraphy. Through Lin Hwai-min’s Award, the award for Best Choreographer at choreography, the company transforms the Lyon Biennial Dance Festival, the ancient aesthetics into a thrilling modern Distinguished Artist Award presented of the celebration of motion. International Society for the Performing Arts, Cloud Gate has toured extensively, with and the Chevalier of the Order of Arts and frequent engagements at the Next Wave Letters from the French Ministry of Culture. Festival in New York, Sadler’s Wells Theatre In 2005 he was honored by Time magazine as and Barbican Centre in London, the Moscow one of the “Asia’s Heroes.” In 2013 he was Chekhov International Theatre Festival, and awarded with the First Rank Order of Brilliant the Internationales Tanzfest NRW directed by Star with Special Grand Cordon, becoming Pina Bausch. the second artist to receive the highest honor At home, Cloud Gate also enjoys acclaim from the government of Taiwan. and popularity. In addition to regular seasons Honoring Lin Hwai-min with a Lifetime in theaters, the company stages annual free Achievement Award in 2009, the jury of the outdoor performances in various cities in International Movimentos Dance Prize, Taiwan, drawing audiences of up to 60,000 per Germany, hailed him as “a foremost innovator performance. To perform for grassroots com - of dance” and said that he “ranks amongst munities, and to foster young choreographers artists of the century such as William Forsythe, in Taiwan, Cloud Gate 2 was founded in 1999. George Balanchine, Birgit Cullberg….” In In 1998, Cloud Gate Dance School was July 2013, Lin followed in the footsteps of founded to bring the joy of dance to students, Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham and ages 4 to 84. Pina Bausch to receive the prestigious Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for Lifetime Achievement. He is the first recipient of this award who is based in Asia. ABOUT THE ARTISTS Lee Ching-chun (Associate was a member of the creative team in the Artistic Director ) earned Games of the XXIX Olympiad Beijing in her M.A. degree in Dance 2008, was Artistic Director of Taiwan’s Studies from City Centennial Grand Countdown in 2010, and University of Laban was a member of the creative team for the Centre, London, in 1999. Taiwan Pavilion Expo at Shanghai in 2010. In 2004 she received the National Award for the Lulu W. L. Lee (lighting Arts from Taiwan design ) holds an M.F.A. National Culture and Arts Foundation, the in Theater Lighting highest award for artists in Taiwan. Design from Temple Since joining Cloud Gate in 1983, Lee has University, Philadelphia, performed leading roles in many of Lin Hwai- and has worked as the min’s works. Her choreographic works in - architecture lighting de - clude Woman and Man , Man and Woman for signer at the Lighting Cloud Gate and While White Is Revealing for Practice, as technical su - Spotlight Dance Company.