A simple beauty
Recalling these 25 years of her creative history, Lin recalls, "There was so much that was fresh in the first ten years. It was like I was made of sponge, and was quickly absorbing all kinds of knowledge and skills. Because I was so anxious to perform, there was much that I didn't fully digest but just tossed in." She says this was a stage when she "lacked a personal style."
Her second decade started after she returned from study abroad. Having acquired a broader range of vision, she had more of her own approach and put more energy into research. "Ultimately, dancers' costumes are their second skins. They must be comfortable to wear and stretchable. All these factors can influence the quality of a performance." She began to consider the connections between clothes' structure and the body's rhythms. Gradually, from her confusion--as if emerging from a cocoon--came a design concept that "discarded the fancy for the simple."
In 1998 Cloud Gate Dance Theatre performed Moon Water. It was an important work from the period when Lin Hwai-min had returned to a conception of the oriental body. It took the Buddhist conception that "flowers in the mirror and moon on the water are nothing" as its starting point, incorporating the movements of tai chi into the dance.
To suit the dancers' rhythmic movements--like the passage of the movements of water or clouds--so that the clothes restricted as little as possible, Lin had the men wear no tops and the women tightly fitting skin-colored outfits. Moreover, she did a creative twist with pleated pants; she used extremely thin white chiffon, folded at the waist, so that it looked like a skirt when they stood still but long pants when they were in motion. Like the flow of water or reflections in a mirror, the dancers conjured up an otherworldly beauty.
"From my experience in designing for Moon Water, I began to diligently think about how to integrate modern elements into the traditional commoners' clothes. It extended from the Chinese mother culture to the native Taiwanese theatrical culture." Cloud Gate's productions of Cursive and Cursive II made the most of her stage creativity and pushed her artistry up a level.
Design with thought
Lin observes that many people say Lin Hwai-min is hard to work with because he's always making changes, but she feels that he is "constant from start to finish." She says, "Lin will say something like it's got to be 'Tibetan red" and then you have to move heaven and earth to find it." Furthermore, Lin Hwai-min communicates his wishes very early, at least six months in advance. "And when he gives you a job, he'll give you a book list at the same time. And he knows after two or three sentences whether you've done your homework."
In Cursive, so as to turn the dancers into "calligraphic brushes applying ink," fluidly moving through space, outlining the forms of cursive "grass" calligraphy, Lin boldly chose velvety polyester knitted clothes. "A velvety finish makes clothes more solid and stately. It gives fabric a certain heft that hangs well. It can flow with movement and stretch. The design of the baggy long pants allowed the dancers to be more agile and carefree when raising their legs, turning their body or flying through the air."
In the third decade of her career she has spent more time with the choreographers and directors building conceptions and creating stronger directions. The design is easier for her. In recent years she has been combining the human body with geometric shapes: squares, circles, triangles. She has been "geometric pattern cutting" to give costumes a more modern feel. There is also a minimalism to the lines and colors.
Four years ago for a National Symphony Orchestra performance of the opera Tristan and Isolde, Lin designed a 70-yard-long white skirt, held together with rope that symbolized Isolde's emotional turmoil and the obstacles she faced in love. When Isolde turned her body, the long skirt was pulled toward the sky, like a sail catching the wind; it also marvelously was used as a screen to project images of Tristan and Isolde satisfying their passions in intimate embrace.
Cultivating a new era of theater
When she started in her profession, the general cultural environment in Taiwan was poor, whereas today costume design has for many years been taught at colleges. But Lin still feels hurt: "Taiwan does not lack for design talent, but who wants to sit quietly behind the curtain, stitching away so as to complete someone else's dream? And if the top talent does not have handicraft skills, then exquisite designs are just drawings on paper that can't be realized."
Deeply feeling the importance of strong foundations in basic skills for professional costume designers, Lin, when she came back from the US, carefully picked students to became old-fashioned apprentices, learning correct concepts and methods without having to pay tuition. "Some students when they came to me couldn't even sew a button. But techniques can be learned. Can you put in the hard work? Do you have a passion for work in theater? Those are the key questions."
With regard to the trend toward "one-person theater troupes" in Taiwan over the past ten years, Lin notes regretfully that the government is not providing long-term financial support to excellent performing arts companies. With the general financial uncertainty that these companies face, they are not able to get an early start planning performances. They always have to wait for the money to come in at the last minute before they can recruit personnel and hastily put on a performance.
"You need ample time for the design and manufacture of theater costumes if you want outstanding new ideas. But in recent years, with the time constraints that productions are under, it's often impossible to make the most of your creative abilities." Lin believes that for quite some time shortsighted methods have been practised that are not conducive to the healthy development of a theater company. With no opportunity to see outstanding works, the audiences for theater are gradually shrinking. And once they are lost, they are lost forever.
After midwinter, even Lin's winning the National Award for Arts cannot change the fact that the old dorm that Kungliao has been using as its office is facing the wrecker's ball, and the company must move. But she is behaving as if everything is normal, patiently instructing students how to sew and cut. Concerned above all about the meaning and value of life, she is continuing to expend great effort on behalf of Taiwan's theater world, playing the role of the green leaf that accentuates the beauty of the performers' showy flowers. This woman of great determination not only has a huge infectious passion about the theater; but her artistic accomplishments are also setting the standard for this age.