It could have been the end of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre when a devastating fire destroyed the studio in 2008, along with costumes, props and the production archive dating back to 1975. However, thanks to overwhelming donations from private individuals and companies in Taiwan, the internationally renowned dance theatre, which is firmly established and popular in Taiwan, was able to rise from the ashes - in 2015, the new home was opened in an extensively renovated former Radio Taiwan International building.
With six performances of the production Sounding Light from 10 to 18 April, Cloud Gate Theatre is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its work at the new location, which includes a theatre with 450 seats, an open-air stage for up to 1500 people and two studios. The performances will take place as part of Taiwan Week, in which important Taiwanese cultural institutions invite an international audience to immerse themselves in the diversity of current cultural creation in Taiwan. There will also be two performances in May at the Tainan Cultural Centre in the south-west of the island state.
In Sounding Light, the dancers use their voices, their breath and their percussive bodies to create a natural soundtrack that is acoustically and visually reminiscent of airy breezes, forest animals and flowing water. ‘The formally, aesthetically and energetically masterful piece shows the abstracted daily routine of an ecosystem,’ wrote the theatre magazine Die Deutsche Bühne about CHENG Tsung-lung's first major choreography for the company. Cheng succeeded Lin Hwai-min, the founder of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, in 2020.
From spring 2026, the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan will be back in Europe with Sounding Light and other productions. More information on the available productions and date options for 2026, 2027 and 2028 can be found here.
