"Lin Huaimin is retiring, and I finally have the opportunity to see the 'Cloud Gate Dance Collection'!" Last night, the "Exchange Work" jointly completed by the Cloud Gate Dance Collection and the Beijing Tao Body Theater was performed at the Sichuan Grand Theatre for the last time. Three international choreographers, 72-year-old Lin Huaimin, 43-year-old Zheng Zonglong and 34-year-old Tao Ye, presented their original works - "Autumn Water", "Multiplication" and "12", "Autumn Water" is also the last work created by the retired Lin Huaimin for the Cloud Gate Dance Collection at the end of the year.
At the scene, Lin Huaimin transformed the realm of "infinitely good sunset" into a quiet dance of meditation, and the dancers were rooted below the ground like trees, expressing the calm and tranquility of every moment with their lives, which was pleasant and reassuring. Not only the elders' suggestions for backwardness, but also the novel atmosphere of Chinese modern dance art. In just 20 minutes of "Autumn Water", a hundred turns and a thousand times, in the end, there is no turning back, but it is a long day. Taking this "Autumn Water" as a different era, the aftertaste is long and suddenly cheerful.
The works of the two dance troupes "exchange with each other"
"Exchange Works", as the name suggests, is the work of two dance troupes "exchanging with each other". Tao Ye, the founder and artistic director of Tao Body Theater, choreographed the Yunmen Dance Collection with a work titled "12", and Zheng Zonglong, the next successor of the Yunmen Dance Collection, created a new creation for the Tao Body Theater - "Multiplication".
Founded in 2008, Tao Body Theatre has developed like a legend and is renowned on the international stage. Tao Ye said that from a very young age, when he saw Lin Huaimin's whimsical "Chasing Dreams", the Cloud Gate Dance Set was a god-level existence. The inspiration for this "Exchange" came from a long talk in Tamsui. The year before, Tao was invited to perform at the Cloud Gate Theater. After I met Zheng Zonglong, we talked for a long time, and we hated each other late, and I said, why don't you choreograph a dance for our Tao Body Theater, he said, then you should also create a dance for the Cloud Gate Dance Collection. ”
Tao Ye's choreographed work is "12", "12 dancers, 12 solo dancers, 12 is like the consummation of numbers." In the hot summer of August, Tao Ye went to Tamsui's Cloud Gate Theater to work with cloud gate dancers," Naturally, I thought of clouds when I cooperated with Cloud Gate, and the inspiration was from the fast-moving clouds seen on the mountains in Sweden. Tao Ye said that he thought of this creation as "romantic" at the beginning: "There is no happier dance troupe in the world than Cloud Gate, there are mountains and seas near the Cloud Gate Theater, it is very quiet, the surrounding is very pristine, and there is a pink sunset." Unexpectedly, in the time of creation and editing, I have been staying at home, rehearsing day and night, and have been in a hurry. "Tao Ye's "12" challenges the Cloud Gate dancers with changeable movements and calls for the drifting clouds in memory. The texture of the body of the Cloud Gate dancer makes every cloud unpredictable, but it also quietly goes away like a cloud and cannot be grasped.
Zheng Zonglong's "Multiplication" seems to start from the Tao body, seeking change in unity, with a strong sense of form and catching people's attention.
Before retiring, he choreographed his last dance for Cloud Gate
The bold proposal of "Exchange Works" was also approved and appreciated by Lin Huaimin, so much so that he had to "join it". Lin Huaimin's "Autumn Water" is danced by five of the most senior dancers in Cloud Gate, the youngest of whom is 34 years old, and two of whom are already 50 years old. After this dance, they will also retire and leave the stage of Cloud Gate forever. "When I watch this work, I am always very sentimental, and I have a lot of tears at the thought that they are leaving this stage." Tao Ye said emotionally.
This time, Lin Huaimin chose the minimalist composer Avo Pat's "Mirror in the Mirror", with long lines of music and dancers wandering around. The five female dancers are still the signature movements of Cloud Gate, depressed and frustrated, vigorous and powerful, and still have the taste of calligraphy. The gentle arm, the round field that goes and returns, is more like an endless farewell.
The first meeting with Chengdu is also a farewell
In the 46 years since the establishment of Cloud Gate, the first time I came to Chengdu was to meet with everyone for the first time, and it was also to say goodbye to everyone, which inevitably made people sigh. As one of the 7 cities on the farewell tour, many audiences of course came for the "Cloud Gate Dance Collection" Lin Huaimin. Lin Huaimin also sat in the audience, dancing with friends and dancing goodbye.
In the 46 years of yunmen dance collection, whether it is the youthful spirit of "Nine Songs" in the early years, or the search for "Song of the Wanderer", or the introverted tranquility of "Water Moon", "Xingcao" and later, Lin Huaimin and Yunmen Dance Set created an era of modern Chinese dance.
This is the last time Lin Huaimin will take charge of the 46-year-old Yunmen, who has long said that he will retire on December 31, 2019. Is there no Lin Huaimin's Cloud Gate or Cloud Gate?
At the scene, Lin Huaimin seemed to use this "Exchange Work" to make an answer, saying goodbye to "Autumn Water", and leaving an open future for Cloud Gate with "Multiplication" and "12".
Reporter Chen Huiru