Publication Date：02/22/2013
Source： Taiwan Today
Cloud Gate Theatre founder Lin Hwai-min has been awarded the prestigious 2013 Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for his lifetime contribution to the development of modern dance, the Ministry of Culture said Feb. 21.
Established in 1981, the award was first given to renowned American dancer Martha Graham. This is the first time it has been given to a dancer outside of the U.S. or Europe.
Festival organizer Jodee Nimericther described Lin as an extraordinary talent whose works have been performed all over the world to great critical acclaim.
Lin said the award was not just given to him, but to the whole people of Taiwan, as it was their support that made Cloud Gate Theatre’s success possible, Liberty Times reported Feb. 22.
Other previous recipients of the award include Pina Bausch, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor and Bill T. Jones, the MOC said.
In 2009 Lin was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by Germany’s International Movimentos Dance Prize. Lin is also a past recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award—known as the Asian Nobel Prize—and was made a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture.
The award, valued at US$50,000, will be presented July 26 as the festival celebrates its 80th anniversary, with performances at the Durham Performing Arts Center, Durham, North Carolina.(SDH)
Picture: Cloud Gate Theatre founder Lin Hwai-min is a pioneer of modern dance in Taiwan. (CNA)
