The present Google Doodle praises the 66th birthday celebration of Taiwanese dancer, choreographer, and educator Lo Man-fei, a deep rooted advocate for the advancement of Taiwanese dancers and performance art.
Lo Man-fei was brought into the world on this day in 1955 in Taipei City, Taiwan and moved toward a career in dance at 5 years of age. In school, her unique talent was encouraged by a portion of Taiwan’s leading choreographers, including Lin Hwai-min, the author of one of the country’s most acclaimed dance troupes—Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan.
She graduated from National Taiwan University with a degree in English writing and moved to the U.S. in 1978 to contemplate with the Martha Graham Dance Company, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and the José Limón Dance Company. Nonetheless, she chose to get back to Taiwan to join Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan.
In 1979, Lo officially joined Cloud Gate—an acceptance she attributed to a limited extent to the abilities passed down to her from masters like Lin.
With a collection using techniques from ballet, modern dance, and traditional Chinese dance, she toured the world with Cloud Gate until 1982, catching a mix of these styles with what she alluded to as her own “vocabulary” of movements. Lo chipped away at Broadway in the mid 1980s and in 1985, procured a master’s degree in dance at New York University prior to getting back to Taiwan.
She then, at that point rejoined Cloud Gate, arranged unique exhibitions, and sustained another age of artists as a teacher at the National Institute for the Arts (presently the Taipei National University of the Arts).
In 1999, Cloud Gate 2, a development of Taiwan’s renowned troupe, selected Lo as its artistic director and Cloud Gate later settled a grant in her honor. She is most popular today for her solo performance in “Requiem,” a 10-minute, constant turning routine choreographed explicitly for her by as a matter of fact Lin Hwai-min himself.
Happy Birthday to Lo Man-fei, who consistently put in her best foot forward!