{"id":68405,"date":"2026-07-13T20:43:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T12:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=68405"},"modified":"2026-07-13T20:43:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T12:43:10","slug":"review-how-does-taiwans-legendary-cloud-gate-dance-theatre-look-under-new-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=68405","title":{"rendered":"Review | How does Taiwan\u2019s legendary Cloud Gate Dance Theatre look under new director?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">When Taiwan\u2019s Cloud Gate Dance Theatre last performed in Hong Kong in 2019, they presented a gala programme paying tribute to the work of their founder, Lin Hwai-min, who handed over direction of the company the following year to his protege, <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Cheng Tsung-lung<\/span>.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\"><em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">Lunar Halo<\/em> is the first full-length work by Cheng and the first Cloud Gate production under his direction to be presented in the city. So how did this legendary company look under their new director?<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The answer is, to put it bluntly, much the same. Cloud Gate have always had a very specific style, and that remains true. While preserving their immediately identifiable character may please loyal admirers, after 50 years and with a new director, one might have expected to see some evolution and exploration of new paths.<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">To be fair, <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\"><em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">Lunar Halo<\/em><\/span> was created in 2019, and Cheng\u2019s more recent works may show greater change. Here, his choreography is heavily influenced by his mentor and predecessor, although other influences (Akram Khan, Crystal Pite) are also present.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The most striking sequence of the performance was the opening, where a group of male dancers working in unison linked their arms and bodies to create a succession of extraordinary images, including one that looked like a DNA helix revolving on a screen.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-inline-container e1a5rv550 css-1llrc1m e1yqhwb40\" data-qa=\"Component-renderMap-StyledDiv\">\n<div class=\"image-inline caption e1fvabeq0 css-19sk4h4 ea9pn0s0\" data-qa=\"Component-Container\">\n<figure class=\"image-inline caption ea9pn0s1 css-1vtntpq e1gf69pb0\" data-qa=\"ArticleImage-ArticleImageContainer\">\n<div data-qa=\"ArticleImage-handleRenderImage-ImageContainer\" class=\"css-bjn8wh e1gf69pb3\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The opening scene of \u201cLunar Halo\u201d saw a group of male dancers linking their arms and bodies to create a succession of extraordinary images. Photo: Moon 9 Image\/courtesy of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority\" data-qa=\"BaseImage-handleRenderImage-StyledImage\" class=\"e1gf69pb2 css-6ikqhs e445x7d0\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/07\/13\/41cae329-b8f4-4566-8cf8-3437d9960907_1dc5d863.jpg\" title=\"The opening scene of \u201cLunar Halo\u201d saw a group of male dancers linking their arms and bodies to create a succession of extraordinary images. Photo: Moon 9 Image\/courtesy of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority\"\/><\/div><figcaption data-qa=\"ArticleImage-DescriptionContainer\" class=\"css-1bj5zno e1gf69pb1\">The opening scene of \u201cLunar Halo\u201d saw a group of male dancers linking their arms and bodies to create a succession of extraordinary images. Photo: Moon 9 Image\/courtesy of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Then things became less interesting. The dancers stamped, jumped and whirled, solo or in groups \u2013 with the women doing a lot of long-hair tossing \u2013 and showed the distinctive strengths of Cloud Gate\u2019s renowned training system.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/arts\/article\/3360319\/how-does-taiwans-legendary-cloud-gate-dance-theatre-look-under-new-director?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Taiwan\u2019s Cloud Gate Dance Theatre last performed in Hong Kong in 2019, they presented a gala programme paying tribute to the work of their&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[8294,8034,2626,3421,2639,28,4796,6911],"class_list":["post-68405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-cloud","tag-dance","tag-director","tag-gate","tag-legendary","tag-review","tag-taiwans","tag-theatre","wpcat-33-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/68406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}