Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan

WILD CURSIVE

THE FINAL CHAPTER OF CURSIVE: A TRILOGY

Massive scrolls of translucent rice paper unfurl onto the stage. Slowly, their pristine surfaces are inscribed with rivulets of black ink seeping from above, evoking Chinese calligraphy at its freest and most revealing. The improvisatory spirit of this ancient form is echoed through fluent, spiraling movement in Wild Cursive, an enthralling and dynamic work by choreographer Lin Hwai-min. Dressed in black and dancing on a white floor, the dancers' sudden changes of direction, knee drops, and delicately curling fingers evoke the link strokes in all their variety. Trained in martial arts, tai chi tao yin (an ancient form of chi kung), modern dance, ballet, meditation, Chinese opera movement, and calligraphy, members of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan move with astonishing power. No other company so effortlessly weds East and West to arrive at something so completely new. Presented by BAM Next Wave Festival in association with Asia Society