Gala spotlights rising stars in Chinese contemporary dance

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail chinadaily.com.cn, December 25, 2019
A stage photo of 32 Chapters. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Love melts loneliness

The sentimental choreography of Inside has humor, love and a touch of boldness, but most of all, emotions that resonate with everyone: the co-existence of loneliness and love, as well as the inevitable connections with people in social lives.

The dancers came to the stage with caution and curiosity, like a child when born into the world. They interact with each other in a cautious manner. They fall into unexpected collisions sometimes. They hug to soothe each other. They get refreshed, walk on or walk away.

"I hope to connect people with love. Love is something that brings warmth to us. For me, love can melt everything," Gong said. "Because I'm very straightforward, my way of speaking may hurt people sometimes. But they tolerated me. Such tolerance made me tender."

The 18-minute clip of Inside was selected from its original 70-minute work that Gong created in 2018. It's partly inspired by Gabrielle Zevin's novel, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, which tells how the messy life of middle-aged bookstore owner A.J. Fikry was reframed after the arrival of a mysterious package - an unexpected baby that had saved him from the deadlock of solitude.

"Because of the arrival of the abandoned baby, his life was changed gradually. So I think love and emotional bonds could completely change a person."

Gong says she is now pushing herself to explore a larger world of dance, trying to fuse it more with music and plays.

"Currently I feel it's the time to cooperate with theatrical artists and musicians to look for more possibilities in art production. Because dancing has its limitations."

"Contemporary dance is still niche in China. The audience is small. Many people say it's hard to understand so they don't go to see it. In this regard, Lin Hwai-min is a hero. He's brought contemporary dance to audiences in so many different places."

In 1973, Lin Hwai-min founded Cloud Gate Dance Theater, the first contemporary dance company in Taiwan. His dancers have since performed in both urban and rural areas across Taiwan, which largely helped promote the development of contemporary art in Taiwan. Time magazine has described Cloud Gate as "Asia's leading contemporary dance theater".  

"Recently I got the chance to teach contemporary dance to children ages 6 to 9. They actually like it. They just didn't get the opportunity to know it earlier. So I think the teaching of contemporary dance could start earlier in future. This is a creative art that could help free children's inner selves," Gong continued.

The National Youth Dancers Development Plan is an annual project sponsored by the China Literature and Art Federation to train and cultivate young dancers. Over the past five years, the project has supported nearly 200 young talents. Their dance works have been shown in 22 cities in 13 countries around the globe.

<   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   >  


Print E-mail Bookmark and Share

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)

No comments.

Add your comments...

  • User Name Required
  • Your Comment
  • Enter the words you see:    
    Racist, abusive and off-topic comments may be removed by the moderator.
Send your storiesGet more from China.org.cnMobileRSSNewsletter