The Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, Taiwan’s leading modern-dance company, was founded in 1973, about the time that choreographers in Taiwan had begun experimentation in dance. Its founder and artistic director, Lin Hwai-min, followed suit, but named his company after the five-thousand-year-old Chinese ritual dance, Cloud Gate.

From the beginning, Lin Hwai-min has created compositions that seem to flow in combinations of Chinese folk dance, tai chi, chi kung, and ballet. In tai chi and chi kung, one moves very slowly, breathing deeply while meditating. It is a holistic sort of mind/body experience. Under Mr. Lin’s lead, it appears that this practice is done in concert with their inherited tradition of dance and the grace and grandeur of ballet. Many also compare it to Chinese acrobatics, as the twenty lithesome dancers of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre are extreme masters of agility.

Cloud Gate’s performances are enhanced by simple, but effective, special effects and unusual props. Overhead, a sheet of mirrors, oblique-angled to the stage, reflects the dancers in their gossamer silks in what delights the eye as a meditation on the embodiment of music, giving the illusion of ceaseless exhilaration. Water flows onstage, further reflecting a truly unique execution of contemporary dance in the Moon Water presentation, and three and a half tons of yellow rice fill the stage for Songs of the Wanderers. The backdrop patterns of Chinese brush strokes boldly dramatize the intent of each dance’s message in Wild Cursive, which features an extensive display of ricepaper banners creatively infused with ink.

With Taiwan being its home base, The Cloud Gate Dance Theatre is renowned for its international tours which have taken place in Europe, Asia, North America, and South America. In 2003, the City of Taipei, Taiwan honored the Company with "Cloud Gate Day" to celebrate the premier of its thirtieth anniversary season and to recognize them for their importance both locally and abroad. They also, in an unprecedented move, renamed the street of Cloud Gate’s office as Cloud Gate Lane. With the tremendous success and longevity of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, Lin Hwai-min is recognized as one of Asia’s most prominent cultural figures. Common Wealth, Taiwan’s number one magazine, named him one of the country’s most influential people of the last two hundred years. The South China Morning Post joined in, saying that he is "one of the greats of the 20th Century." The man and his achievement are truly the pride of Taiwan.

雲門舞集是台灣首屈一指的現代舞蹈團體，成立於1973 年，當時台灣的編舞才剛開始在實驗階段。創辦人兼藝術總監林懷民跟上風潮，以流傳五千年的中華傳統舞蹈將該舞團命名為「雲門」。

起初，林懷民把中華的民族舞蹈、太極、氣功和芭蕾結合在他的舞碼中。練太極和氣功者在冥想時要深呼吸，且必須放慢動作。這是一種「身心融合為一體」的體驗。在林懷民的帶領之下，這樣的表演在舞台上呈現出傳統舞蹈的承襲及芭蕾的優雅壯麗。許多人會拿雲門來和中華的雜技互相比較，因為這二十位肢體柔軟的雲門舞者就像是靈活大師。

雲門舞集會利用簡易但有力且特殊的效果，以及奇特的道具來提升表演的吸引力。頭頂上有一大片傾向舞台的鏡子，映照出身穿薄紗的舞者，整齣舞蹈看起來就像一首樂曲，令人著迷不已。在《水月》中，水波在舞台上流動，更反射出現代舞蹈的獨特性。而在《流浪者之歌》的舞台上，佈滿了3.5 噸的金黃稻米。在《狂草》中，中國書法的布景裝飾恣情地表達出每支舞蹈的寓意，在米色的畫紙上大量呈現飛舞的筆墨，是這齣舞蹈的特色。

雲門舞集的總部設於台灣，以國際巡迴演出名揚四海，其中包括了歐洲、亞洲、北美洲和南美洲。2003 年在台北市，台灣為了表彰該舞團的成就，特別訂定了「雲門日」以慶祝其30 週年公演首演日，並肯定了雲門在國內外的重要地位。他們並且把雲門舞集辦公室所在的街道定名為雲門巷，這是史無前例的事情。由於雲門舞集的非凡成就和悠久歷史，林懷民被認為是亞洲最傑出的文化人物之一。他被台灣最優質的《天下雜誌》封為近兩百年來全國最具影響力的人物之一。《南華早報》接著也把他譽為「20 世紀的偉大人物之一」。這號人物及其成就，無疑是台灣的驕傲。