Formosa was based on the stories of Taiwan. In the whole performance, the narrator told of a poem or a story. The way they presented Taiwan was particular. Dancers passed through the shadow of words with folk dance. Their light brown, green and pink costumes had a taste of the grassroots. Without more descriptions, their moving bodies showed the stories: history, people and hardship opened up the land in Taiwan. It was great that the work could be showcased on the international stage.

In the whole piece, one scene impressed me the most: more and more words fell from the sky onto the dancers who showed conflict, fought with each other and became indifferent to each other. Finally, the words blacked the whole stage. The stars then rose on the stage and the dancers held the hands of each other, running onto the stage and danced toward the stars. Taiwan reveals contradiction and conflict. However, during crucial moments, people were warm, powerful, united and persistent. The performance recalled people of the hard times in the past and enhanced people's coherence. I was truly touched.

To create a local "Taiwanese" dance troupe, Mr. Lin Hwai-min founded Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. In 2017, the birth of Formosa witnessed the persistent concept. At the beginning of the work, Mr. Chiang Hsun read with affection, "Ocean of Dance / Island of Beauty" which was strongly connected with those who grew up in Taiwan. I immediately concentrated on the performance. The background was Chinese characters. The separated or overlapping words and sentences were parallel to the dance which depicted the change of time in Taiwan.

Through the dancers' bodies and the flow of the words on stage, the performance showed the affection for the island. The vivid images came into my mind the moment I saw the poems and names of the places. The words, sentences and dancers' movements were associated with the Taiwanese's lives. I might not be able to totally comprehend the customs of Taiwan and the affection the words convey; however, I acknowledge the work of Mr. Lin Hwai-min who endeavored to enhance the coherence among all the people in Taiwan.

"Ocean of Dance / Island of Beauty" began with the reading of poems from Mr. Chiang Hsun's low voice. The impressive sound of drums and resounding singing of Mr. Sang Puy responded to the dancers' powerful physical movements. Legacy of Cloud Gate in 1978 was the first dance work based on Taiwan. After 39 years, it created Formosa which was also based on Taiwan. The difference was that the former referred to the ancestors' cultivation and the latter highlighted the image of Taiwan and its current situations. This time, the creation involved reading poems, singing and showing the beauty of Chinese characters. It was a classical piece.

The work coevolved around the reading of Mr. Chiang Hsun's poems about Taiwan written by 13 contemporary writers. The poems depicted beauty, chaos and warmness of Taiwan. The repetition of the beautiful poems elevated my soul and my affection for the land. Although there are earthquakes, lies and violences, we also have congenial climate and peaceful lives. I love my hometown and my island. I hope that we can work together to make our country and nation more powerful.

Formosa is the last dance choreographed by Mr. Lin Hwai-min before his retirement. The work involves professional image design, local fashion designers and also singing by the aborigines. It perfectly tells the history of Taiwan and involves the songs and dancers by projection effect. In the lecture, Mr. Lin Hwai-min mentioned the application of projection which is more feasible for different stages in a world tour. The background reading by Mr. Chiang Hsun intensified and bettered the performance.

Dancers' powerful performance was impressive, with the images of Chinese characters. I could comprehend the meanings conveyed in modern dance. Through writing and narration, I perceived the beauty of history, culture and humanity of Taiwan. In the scattered printed characters, dancers fell, rose slowly and showed their persistence. The dancers still showed the order out of chaos. It was another sort of visual experience.

The core of the work is the presentation of printed Chinese characters. Mr. Lin Hwai-min presented Chinese characters via dance movements and recorded the culture and history of Taiwan and our affection for the land. Formosa is not only a work of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, but also the traces of the Taiwanese people in the past years. Mr. Lin Hwai-min aims to present Taiwan to the world and he even expects that everyone can protect the land.

After watching Formosa, I realized that we should pay more attention to our land. Mr. Lin Hwai-min once said, "Typhoons, earthquakes and internal fights frequently take place on this island. However, people never lose their hope but keep moving." When encountering difficulties, we should overcome them with strong faith and persistence to move forward.

Formosa is based on Taiwan and it depicts the present difficulties, such as human or natural disasters, encountered by the society. However, at end of the play, the stars on the set symbolizes Mr. Lin Hwai-min's wish for this beautiful island. What impressed me the most in the performance was the narration of Mr. Chiang Hsun. He quietly read the poems with his charming voice. The aboriginal singer Sang Puy touched the audiences with his powerful and magnetic voice. Besides, the projection of the animation created splendid visual effect by resizing, overlapping and separating the Chinese characters.

"Ocean of Dance / Island of Beauty" runs through the dance. It displays Mr. Lin Hwai-min, wish for the prospect of Taiwan and the expected contribution of Cloud Gate to the land. In fact, Formosa was the last work of Mr. Lin Hwai-min before his retirement as artistic director of Cloud Gate. As a Taiwanese, I was touched by Mr. Lin Hwai-min who narrated his wishes for Taiwan by these delicate techniques. We appreciate his 46-year efforts to introduce the histories and humanities of Taiwan to the world so people can approach this beautiful island!

"Ocean of Dance / Island of Beauty" is the opening of Formosa and the work depicts the story of the beauty of Taiwan. The stage techniques were extremely difficult. Some Chinese characters were incorporated into the stage, being a part of the natural landscape of Formosa. The costumes were dyed with simple earth tone colors. With the dancers' movements, it conveyed the history of Taiwan; with powerful music and singing plus the affective reading of poems, I was engaged in the work.

After watching the work, I was not certain if I understood the meaning but I felt a little somber. It reminded me of the history courses about Taiwan, from the conflicts among different ethnic groups in the early cultivation and the ancestors' persistence. I was shocked when I saw the presentation of the Chinese characters on the setting, the colors on stage and on the dancers' facial expressions was slowly agitating and my mind was calm.

When I played the video, I heard a mysterious and low male voice coming out with the moving image. Once the light was projected on the stage, Formosa impressed me with its special presentation as well as creative costumes. In the work, dancers dressed as Taiwanese in early periods of time. I was surprised by the projection design of Mr. Chou Tung-yen and the mainstream team.

Through the dancers' physical movements and spinning, the soul of Cloud Gate was conveyed to the audiences. The performance about the Han ancestors was reinforced by the poem of Lin Huan-chang, My Island, read by Mr. Chiang Hsun. I was extremely captivated and touched by the cooperation and teamwork displayed in the play, I was not even aware that the film was finished!

I watched Formosa and I was attracted by the charming voice and the strong characteristics of the stage. I thus dived into the dance performance about the island. I saw that the work presented different ethnic groups, ecology, culture of Taiwan and some trivialities in our lives. It interpreted this island with dance and Chinese characters. The dancers' movements and visual characters which depicted the island and the charming singing, made me review the history of the island and the cultivation in early times.

The dim lighting and the complicated background showed the efforts and hard times of the ancestors that arrived in Taiwan. The words were rearranged and separated in the flow which resembled the unity and severe conflicts among the ethnic groups. The changeable words and the dance movements were sometimes like the stars in the sky and sometimes resemble the galloping horses. Dancers wearing the costumes of the color of earth, jumped and rolled between the changeable sky of black on white words and the ground. I sensed the energy and vitality of the island and reviewed the exciting stories of Taiwan.

After watching the documentary Formosa, I realized that Mr. Lin Hwai-min intended to depict a set of contradictions and conflicts in Taiwan. The background music is a person's singing, with the narration of Mr. Chiang Hsun, it felt calm. Although Taiwan has a congenial climate and peaceful lives, called "Ocean of Dance / Island of Beauty", there are still earthquakes, tsunamis, lies, and violence. That's why the dancers' movements were agitating and showed images of conflicts.

The beginning words were impressive! Different sizes of characters flew on the set of the stage. The style was disordered. We identified the words and were touched by the dancers' movements. Mr. Chiang Hsun was the narrator and his voice was soothing and magnetic. After watching Formosa, I feel that we should cherish this beautiful warm place of ours. Since we have experienced the hard times, therefore, we should work harder to create our own future!