by Arison Tamfu, Wang Ze

YAOUNDE, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Simon Abbe's smile was both nostalgic and bashful as he began to tell a tale of love in which his affection for his Chinese dance teacher not only blossomed but also became a catalyst, harmonizing Chinese and Cameroonian cultures.

"It's a long story," Abbe said.

Abbe's passion for dance was ingrained in him from a young age. In 2000, he, along with his childhood friends Julio Dimitri and Joseph Mario Bayong, who shared his fervor for dance, founded a hip-hop dance group called Black Star. Together, they roamed from street to street and neighborhood to neighborhood, showcasing their freestyle moves.

"We danced for fun and to impress girls," recalled Bayong, now 42, reminiscing about the challenges of street life.

Despite their amateur status, the group aspired to a brighter future. Five years later, they joined the Cameroon National Ballet. Around the same time, the Cameroonian government initiated a cultural exchange with China, enabling Chinese professional choreographers to teach contemporary dance to Cameroonian dancers.

This partnership led to the arrival of Chinese dance teachers Naersi and Jiang Keyu in 2005, who came to train a new generation of Cameroonian dancers, including Abbe and his friends, and revitalize the Cameroon National Ballet.

"Everything changed thanks to the Sino-Cameroonian cooperation training. Once I joined the national ballet, I started to learn to dance," emphasized Dimitri, now 43, noting that beyond dance techniques, the Chinese teachers imparted life skills, helping them mature quickly despite their youth.

"We are actually products of the (Sino-Cameroon) cooperation. It is the foundation of my career as a dancer and choreographer," Abbe said.

"The rebuilding of the ballet was a great success; during those years, we choreographed 17 dances and traveled with the President to many countries for important occasions. We also performed in Beijing during the 2008 Beijing Olympics," Dimitri added.

Training these Cameroonian dancers, however, was no easy feat. "When we first tried to rebuild the Ballet, we started with modern dance training, then we added ballet training, and created choreography," Jiang said. "Back then, the actors and musicians who came to the auditions were quite similar, mostly with African dance or hip-hop elements."

As the training progressed, Jiang and Abbe's relationship blossomed. "We met when we were young," Abbe recalled. "We found out that we had a special connection."

They began dating, but Jiang's stay in Cameroon ended in 2009, and she returned to China. Around the same time, Abbe went to France to further his career.

"When I was in France, we realized how much we missed each other," Abbe said.

That's when they decided to get married. Today, they live in China with their two children, a boy and a girl.

"I have been with Simon for more than 10 years, and Chinese and African cultures have always been fermenting in our small family," Jiang said.

They now run a dance troupe called Body Boulevard Company, with branches in China and Cameroon.

Abbe and Jiang shared their story with Xinhua in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon, where they were training a new generation of dancers for their troupe. "Now, we can see that the young dancers here are very diverse physically, and that diversity probably comes from the training we initially gave them," Jiang added.

Their training session proved fruitful. Dressed in various costumes, the young performers seamlessly transitioned between the spirited, energetic rhythms of Cameroonian traditional dance and modern music. Abbe, Jiang, Dimitri and Bayong watched closely and intervened when necessary to correct the trainees' steps.

Jiang described the performance as "Children of the Sun."

"Africans and Chinese both look to the sun; we all need to be warm and grow under its rays. From another perspective, I am also contemplating life through the lens of Chinese philosophy, 'from birth to death,' and I want to incorporate this into my work," said Jiang, now 43.

The troupe aims to tour the world not only to perform but also to bridge the gap between Chinese and African cultures, hoping for integration and mutual learning through the universal language of art and culture.

"We want to bring choreographers from China and send choreographers from Cameroon to China. Culture is a powerful tool for bringing people from different areas and countries together," said Abbe, now 42.

"It's been an important journey for me, moving from my 20s, where I had a deep interaction and growth with African culture, to this stage where I've moved from my personal growth to being able to eventually turn it into a production, spreading the idea of African culture and incorporating Eastern Chinese philosophy," Jiang said. She hoped that the members of the dance troupe would surpass expectations.

"I hope that their passion, energy and artistic flair can reach a wider audience, and I will do my best to help them be seen by the world," she said.

As the sun began to set, Abbe wrapped up the day's training session.

"Our story is beautiful, and our passion is beautiful," Abbe concluded of his love story with Jiang. "It's a story of civilizational exchange," Jiang added. Enditem

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