Lo Man-fei : " I didn’t choose dance, but dance chose me ."
Lo Man-fei graduated from NYU in 1985, and began teaching at Taipei National University of the Arts that year. Lo was named dance department chair in 1992, and later led the graduate dance program at TNUA.
She was responsible for launching the school's seven-year accelerated dance program, which develops talent in high school and places candidates into TNUA upon high school graduation. In 1994, she retired from performing with Cloud Gate and started the Taipei Crossover Dance Company with three other Cloud Gate dancers. Her first choreographic works were completed in the 1980s. This was followed by more work throughout the 1990s, including, The Place Where the Heart Is, City of the Sky, and Chronicle of a Floating City. Lo wrote Restless Souls in 1999 That same year, she and Cloud Gate founder Lin Hwai-min started Cloud Gate 2, and Lo was named its first director. She also was awarded the prize for literature and arts from the Wu San-lien Awards Foundation. In 2000, the year she wrote The Snake, Lo was honored by the National Culture and Arts Foundation, which named her the recipient of its National Award for the Arts .
As a performer, Lo was best known as the lead dancer for Lin's Requiem. In contrast to Lin's East meets West choreographic style, Lo was influenced by Chinese dances and experiences within her personal life.
Lo was diagnosed with lung cancer in September 2001. With treatment, the disease stayed manageable until October 2005. Another round of chemotherapy was started at that time, and she was in remission until February 2006. Lo died at the Koo Foundation Sun Yat-sen Cancer Center in Taipei at age 50 in March 2006. Her final work, Pursuing the Dream, a collaboration between herself and Sophie, was performed by members of Cloud Gate 2 seven weeks after Lo's death.
Taipei National University of the Arts has named a scholarship in her honor, as has Cloud Gate. A biographical documentary film, Man Fei, premiered in 2017. On the thirteenth anniversary of her death, the Yilan City Government dedicated 24 March 2019 to Lo.
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