March Ballet Premieres

In this captivatingly beautiful performance from September 27th of 2008 at the National Theater in Taipei, the acclaimed Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan presents Moon Water. The work of celebrated Taiwanese dancer and choreographer Lin Hwai-min draws inspiration from a Buddhist proverb: "Flowers in a mirror and moon on the water are both illusive" and the ideal state of mind of Tai Chi practitioners: "Energy flows as water, while the spirit shines as the moon." The choreographer merges the art of dance and Tai Chi and bases his creative work on these famous quotes to create a poetic translation of Taoist philosophy. Moon Water compares opposites: real versus unreal, effort versus effortlessness and the concept of yin and yang. In a beautiful set created by Austin Wang, the performers of the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan create an enchanting scenery to the melodies of nine suites of Bach’s Suites for Solo Cello.

Cursive II is a sequel to the magnificent Cursive of 2001, both works of the celebrated Taiwanese dancer and choreographer Lin Hwai-min. Lin has surprised many by using John Cage’s compositions for the soundscape. Simple and pure string music from the Western avant-garde master – himself also a student of Zen Buddhism – engages in a beautiful dialogue with movements developed from Eastern age-old traditional body disciplines. This performance of the ensemble Cloudgate Dance Theater of Taiwan translates the lighter nuances of Chinese calligraphy into stunning dance interpretations, recorded at the Cloudgate Dance Theatre in Geneva in autumn 2005.

"Wild Cursive" is the third piece of Taiwanese dancer and choreographer Lin Hwai-min's Cursive trilogy, a captivating series translating the development of the fascinating art form of Chinese calligraphy into dance. As Lin says himself, the final part marks the climax of the trilogy, because it corresponds to the completely detached, free and highly abstract forms of “spontaneous” calligraphy. The performance contains elements of Tai Chi and is musically accompanied by compositions by Jim Shum and Liang Chun-mei. The performance was recorded in 2009 at the National Theater in Taipei, Taiwan.

Two solos, two solitary beings that do not meet but co-exist in the same space and time. With Tordre, Rachid Ouramdane captures the invisible, the daily intimate gestures that reveals so much of who we are and how we interact. He approaches the two dancers' presence without interfering, without wishing to unlock their relationship or produce admiration. Tordre offers a fascinating diptych of women searching for peace. Dancers Lora Juodkaite and Annie Hanauer perform this dance at the Festival Dansem, France in 2016.