An Exclusive Discount Offer to HKAAA members 10% off for Cloud Gate 2 “Oculus”

[media 1997]

Architecture Is Art Festival 2013

Hong Kong Premiere

Oculus

Presented by Zuni Icosahedron

Produced by Cloud Gate 2

Cloud Gate 2 Founder and Artistic Director: Lin Hwai-min

This performance displays the choreographer’s true mastery of Tanztheater with an astonishing maturity in aesthetics and spirit...”

— PAR Performing Arts Review (Taiwan)

Talent and skill require little translation… Cloud Gate 2 has those virtues, it’s only right that they should be shared with the rest of the world.

—  New York Times

In succession to the 5 Part Dance in 2011, Zuni Icosahedron once again invited Cloud Gate 2, founded by renowned choreographer Lin Hwai-min, to bring the masterpiece Oculus by the late genius Wu Kuo-chi. Oculus is the Latin word for eye, or eye-shaped window; it is also the circular opening on the roof of the dome of the Pantheon. Wu Kuo-chu wishes that through Oculus one can see light and hope regardless of the layers of human bondage. This work was first performed by the Staatstheater Kassel, Germany in 2004, and by Cloud Gate 2 in Taiwan in 2007. This time it will be premiered in Hong Kong by Cloud Gate 2.

About Oculus

Oculus is the circular opening on the roof of the dome of the Pantheon. Situated in Rome of Italy, the Pantheon is an ancient Roman monumental building. The main structure is cylindrical, its roof is covered with hemispherical dome with a diameter of 43.3 meters, on its apex opens an Oculus of a diameter 8.9 meters as the only source of natural light for the temple. Throughout the day, the light from the oculus moves around this space in a sort of reverse sundial effect, creating a sacred atmosphere.

Cloud Gate 2

In 1973 choreographer Lin Hwai-min founded Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan. Being the first contemporary dance company in any Chinese speaking community, Cloud Gate produced more than 160 productions. Lin founded Cloud Gate 2 in 1999 to foster young choreographers and professional dancers, and to continue serving audiences outside the metropolitan areas.

Cloud Gate 2 actively invites innovative choreographers to showcase their urbane, lively, and witty works in the company’s annual production, Spring Riot. Among them are Helen Lai, Ku Ming-shen, Wu Kuo-chu, Bulareyaung Pagarlava, Cheng Tsung-lung, and Huang Yi.

Cloud Gate 2 also reaches out to tens of thousands of people by holding free outdoor performances and talks, and through residency programs on campuses and grass-roots communities in Taiwan.

Lin Hwai-min

Founder and Artistic Director of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan and Cloud Gate 2, Lin Hwai-min studied Chinese opera movement in his native Taiwan, modern dance in New York, and classical court dance in Japan and Korea. He founded the company in 1973.

An internationally renowned choreographer, Lin often draws from traditional Asian culture for inspiration to create works with innovative forms and contemporary relevance, which have prompted international critics to acclaim: A two-time winner of the National Award for Arts in Taiwan, Lin Hwai-min has been awarded Honorary Doctorates from five universities in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Among the international honors received by Lin are the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Award, New York, the Joyce Award of Chicago, the Ramon Magsaysay Award, the so called "Nobel Prize of Aisa," the "Best Choreographer" at Lyon Biennial Festival, and the "Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters" from the France Ministry of Culture. He was celebrated by the Time magazine as one of the "Asia's Heroes" in 2005. In 2009, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Movimentos Dance Prize, Germany.

Wu Kuo-chu

Born in Kaohsiung of Taiwan in 1970, Wu Kuo-chu is a legend in the art circle of Taiwan. Wu didn’t begin to learn ballet until at 24 when he just graduated from Taipei National University of the Arts. He then managed to lose weight from 96kg to 76kg, won his first opportunity to go on stage, and decided to become a dancer. He went on to study at Folkwang Hochschule, Germany, and began choreaphtraphing. Between 2000 and 2004, Wu had produced and restaged Tantulus, ATE, Life Is Else-where and Oculus for Cloud Gate 2, in addition to On the Height for Cloud Grate Dance Theatre. In 2004, Wu Kuo-chu was appointed Artistic Director of the Tanztheatre at Staatstheater Kassel. German media predicted Wu would be “leading Staatstheater Kassel into a new era!” Two years later, he passed away from leukemia. “Had he not gone, he would have swept the European dance world”, as was Lin Hwai-min’s remarks.

Wu’s works have been featured in festivals in Taiwan, France, England, Luxemburg, Italy and Germany. German dance critics have compared him to Dutch master choreographer Hans van Manen, and described Wu’s works as “the perfect combination of playfulness, lightness and depth.”

Promotion Video of Oculus： [media 1998]

[link_to | http://issuu.com/zuni_icosahedron/docs/cloud_gate_2_oculus | Handbills preview of Oculus]

Choreography: Wu Kuo-Chu

Music: George Bizet, Franco Battiato, Angelo Branduardi, Yaacov Shapiro, Johann Pachelbel

Lighting Design: Lulu W. L. Lee

Set Design: Liu Dar-Lun

Video Installation: Oliver Iserloh

Costume Production: Keith Lin*

*based on the design of Ulrike Obermüller

Programme Enquiries：Zuni Icosahedron

Tel: 852-2566 9696 | Website: www.zuni.org.hk