PUBLISHED February 1st, 2015 05:44 pm | UPDATED May 9th, 2018 03:13 am
Rice is an arresting dance work borne of the Chihshang landscape and farming community in Taiwan, created in celebration of Cloud Gate’s 40th anniversary. Awed by immense waves of grain rolling across expansive rice fields and inspired by the environmentally conscious farmers, acclaimed choreographer Lin Hwai-min and his dancers toiled alongside farmers for the rice harvest.
From their experience, Lin created exuberant movements woven through soil, sun, wind, water and fire, to tell a powerful story of the land that also contemplates the undoing of our planet. The formidable dancers of Cloud Gate enact a human drama that parallels the life cycle of rice, about death and rebirth, devastation and resurrection.
Two years of observing the cycles of rice cultivation by cinematographer Chang Hao-jan have resulted in spectacularly captured footage of flooding, growth, harvesting and the burning of the field. These video images-skies reflected in flooded fields, rice plants brushed by wind, and fields ravaged by flames-form a stunning visual backdrop to the production. Accompanied by folk songs in Hakka-the oldest among the existing Chinese dialects-and classical music, as well as the sounds of rustling of grain, soughing of wind, and the peaking of thunder-this is a moving performance that is abundant with the force of life.
Rice is running from Saturday, 28 February to Sunday, 1 March at the Esplanade Theatre.
To purchase tickets, please click [here](http://www.sistic.com.sg/events/rice0215).