Part of the 2011 Next Wave Festival
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan (Wild Cursive, 2007 Next Wave) returns to BAM with Water Stains on the Wall, a metaphorically rich continuation of artistic director Lin Hwai-min’s choreographic exploration of the beauty and aesthetics of calligraphy. Projections of continuously shifting cloud shapes—reminiscent of flowing ink—transform a tilted white platform into a giant sheet of rice paper. All movement is at once filigreed and rooted, reflecting the virtuosity of chi kung, internal martial arts, modern dance, and meditation. The dancers seem to hover as they jump and spin, embodying the calligraphic potential of clouds, slithering snakes, and water stains on the wall.
When: Oct 12—15, 2011 at 7:30pm
Where: Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Av ... Go to event
The virtuosity of the dancers from the Taiwanese company Cloud Gate has caused critics to rave that they “possess a control and articulation that verge on the superhuman.” (Chicago Sun-Times) Trained in tai chi, meditation, Chinese opera movement, modern dance, and ballet, the company performs a rich repertoire with roots in Asian myths, folklore, and aesthetics, all infused with a contemporary perspective. For this long-awaited UMS debut, Cloud Gate presents Lin Hwai-min’s newest work, Water Stains on the Wall. The white set looks like a blank piece of rice paper traditionally used by Chinese calligraphers and painters, onto which images of drifting clouds in different degrees of blackness are projected, with dancers grounded on a tilted floor yet appearing to float. Like flowing ink, the ... 
Critics have raved about the virtuosity of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan’s dancers, claiming they “possess a control and articulation that verge on the superhuman” (Chicago Sun-Times). Trained in chi kung, meditation, internal martial arts, Chinese opera, modern dance and ballet, the company performs a rich repertoire with roots in Asian myths, folklore and aesthetics, infused with a contemporary perspective.
Set to music by composer Toshio Hosokawa using traditional Asian instruments, Lin Hwai-min’s newest work, Water Stains on the Wall, is performed on a white raked stage (evoking rice paper) containing projected images of drifting clouds in varying degrees of blackness. Like flowing ink, the projections create spaces that are constantly shifting, reminiscent of Chinese classical la ... 
