Tsung-Lung Cheng (鄭宗龍) is a famous Taiwanese Choreographer and he will debut his piece “The Wall” in New York City presented by Cloud Gate 2 (雲門舞集2).
Cheng’s interview on his choreography of “The Wall” below:
Cheng’s works were shown at the Taipei International Dance Conference, National Chiang Kai-shek Cultural Center, the National Theater Council Hall’s” New Idea Dance”, Asian Youth Choreography Camp, Asia Pacific Arts Forum, Malaysian Dance Festival, Hong Kong Dance Festival, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Guangzhou Dance Festival, Transition Dance Company in London, Express Dance Company in Australia and more.
In 2002, Cheng joined the Cloud Gate to participate in several international art festival tours, before he became the Resident Guest Choreographer for Cloud Gate 2. After that, his pieces where shown in Brisbane, New York, London, Ludwigshafen and Taipei, among others. In collaboration with Cloud Gate 2 and Taipei Chinese Orchestra, he created the first cross-border work between traditional music and dance “Happiness and Music”.
Cheng won third prize in the No Ballet International Contemporary Choreography Competition in Ludwigshafen, Germany, in 2006.
“On the Road,” a work based on Cheng’s observation and contemplation of life’s journeys, was awarded the prize for “Best Group” at Premio Roma Danza’s 1st International Choreographic Competition on July 6 2011.
On October 22 2011, Cheng’s “On the Road” took home I Prize Choreography at the Awards Ceremony of the XVI Edition of MASDANZA, the International Contemporary Dance Festival of The Canary Islands in Spain.
Cheng served as Resident Choreographer for Cloud Gate 2 from 2006 to 2010 and Cheng’s production with Cloud Gate 2 include A Dignified Joke, Change, Happiness and Music, Crack, and The Wall.
“The Wall”, first created for the company’s 2009 Spring Riot tour, was a reflection Cheng faced during a low time in his life. We might have a wall somewhere that is stopping us from moving forward or stepping outside of our comfort zone. Therefore, Cheng used this piece through 12 wonderful dancers to show his struggles in searching for hopes. Cheng will debut his 25 minutes beautiful and yet powerful piece “The Wall” in Feb 2012 at Joyce Theater in New York City.
** Cloud Gate 2 coming to The Joyce Theater:
Following Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan’s recent celebrated return to the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s (BAM) Next Wave Festival , Cloud Gate 2 will make its US debut at The Joyce Theater, February 8-12, 2012. New Yorkers have been mesmerized by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre five times since 1995 at BAM, and next year will mark the premiere performances of Cloud Gate 2 in the United States. Established in 1999 by Cloud Gate founder Lin Hwai-min, Cloud Gate 2 combines Asian allusion and exhilarating theatricality with a contemporary dance vocabulary.
The choreography to be performed at The Joyce Theater includes Passage by Bulareyaung Pagarlava, guest choreographer for the Martha Graham Dance Company (2011, 2009) and American Dance Festival (2011). Two dances by Huang Yi, Wicked Fish and Ta-Ta for Now, will be performed. In 2011, Huang was noted in Dance Magazine’s “25 to Watch” issue and in 2010 was the winner of the International Choreography Competition in Denmark. And Cheng Tsung-lung will be featured on the Joyce program with The Wall. Cheng recently won both the 2011 Roma and 16th MASDANZA International Dance Competitions and he’s known for his work being architectural in scope and precision. Renowned choreographer Wu Kuo-chu, former artistic director of Tanztheater at Staatstheater Kassel, whose work was described as “Body language close to heaven,” in German press, will be represented with Tantalus on the Joyce program.
Cloud Gate 2’s portfolio of work is celebrated around the world as some of the most pioneering and creative contemporary dance to come out of Asia in decades. In addition to its regular seasons, the company also reaches out to tens of thousands of people by holding free outdoor performances, and offers residency programs on campuses and in outlying communities who otherwise would not have access to world-class dance.
For more info: http://www.cloudgate.org.tw/eng/CG2/index.html
Photo courtesy of Liu Chen-hsiang
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