Cloud Gate Dance Theatre Presents “Send in a Cloud” Inspired by its Dancers

Solo dance in ‘Send in a Cloud’
Courtesy of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre

“If human were clouds, then the colourful scattering of light reflected on them represents every human temperament and emotion.”
— Cloud Gate Dance Theatre

TAIPEI, Taiwan — In April, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre presented their latest production, Send in a Cloud, directed by renowned choreographer Cheng Tsung-lung who succeeded the founder Lin Hwai-ming as the troupe’s Artistic Director in the beginning of 2020.

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, Cloud Gate Dance Theatre was forced to postpone its oversea tours. But when the world came to a pause, Cheng got to work more closely with the troupe’s dancers. “The pandemic has accelerated changes around the world, but also stimulated us to make new attempts to transform ourselves,” says Cheng. Against this backdrop, Cheng tapped into the dancers’ personal life experience, and co-created — with the dancers — an introspective piece inspired by the dancers themselves.

In Chinese, this piece is simply titled “Xia” (the glow of light appearing in the sky). According to Shuowen Jiezi, an ancient Chinese dictionary, the word Xia is defined as red-coloured cloud and air. “If human were clouds, then the colourful scattering of light reflected on them represents every human temperament and emotion”, says Cheng. By drawing a parallel between the ever-changing quality of this natural phenomenon and that of human emotions, Send in a Cloud encourages each member of the troupe to show their true colours as they explore new ways of dancing.

Group dance in ‘Send in a Cloud’
Courtesy of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre

One would think that the role of music is only secondary in contemporary dance, but that is certainly not the case for Send in a Cloud. The piece began with dancers running from the backstage towards an old-school speaker box placed in the centre. The speaker projected broken noises, which were soon interrupted by Bach’s Six Cello Suits played by Japanese composer and saxophonist Yasuaki Shimizu. This powerful yet mellow rendition of Bach’s composition in saxophonette continued to play throughout the performance, helping to set its mood and rhythm.

From time to time, other sounds would kick in and assert their dominance over the Cello Suites — this was arranged by Grammy Award winning sound designer Marcelo Anez, who created these sounds by collecting the dancers’ recordings of their everyday life, from sound of the streets to that of people playing mahjong. This playful contrast of the refined melodies of Bach’s composition and rough audio recordings further highlighted the depth and breadth of the various emotions that the dancers have tried to showcase through their body.

Duet in ‘Send in a Cloud’
Courtesy of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre

Send in a Cloud has been an optical feast, with the dancers’ movement often complementing the bold colours and patterns in the images projected on stage. These loud graphics was constantly mutating into different forms and colours; sometimes, it even gave audience the impression that the dancers on stage are partner dancing with these animated images. It wasn’t a coincidence that these visuals perfectly aligned with the choreography, especially when knowing that these images came from the dancers’ own sketches.

Among the many scenes in Send in a Cloud was a captivating one performed by a group of a male dancers. Against a backdrop of chalk-like strokes that resemble a seascape observed on a starry night, a dancer in khaki trousers moved his way in the air by only setting afoot on the back of his fellow dancers, as if they were his dance floor.

Beautifully choreographed and incredibly mersmsering, this dancer’s movement corresponded to the rhythm of the music playing in the background. His feet never touched the floor until when the scene was about to close — and the moment when his feet did touch the ground, I was suddenly reminded to take my breath.

A special scene in ‘Send in a Cloud’ where a dancer literally danced in the air
Courtesy of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre

From conception to choreography, stage set to sound design, there was nothing in Send in a Cloud that doesn’t revolve around the troupe’s dancers. What’s also fascinating is that two versions have been created for this new production, with slight variation depending on which of the two groups is performing on stage.

This writer is happy to have had the privilege to attend the very first performance of its premiere at the National Theatre in Taipei. Though the performance only ran for about an hour, it still left a lasting impression on me.

Though Send in a Cloud — like most of the contemporary dance production out there — is non-narrative, it certainly has a clear introduction, with several rises, climaxes and returns in between. The way that each scene comes and goes also recall the formation of clouds, which appear as minute droplets of water aggregate and disappear as the particles disperse themselves in the air.

Last scene in ‘Send in a Cloud’
Courtesy of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre

Before the curtain came down, a dancer’s silhouette was spotted against a strong projection of coloured rays, as if we were watching the sun setting amid romantic light-scattering sky. While all the colours have gone into the dark, the performance did not end but continued to play — as we look inward and explore our true colours like what the dancers on stage had just done.

Send in a Cloud premiered at the National Theatre in Taipei on April 15, 2022.