Modern dance builds fan base
Rising number of enthusiasts are attracted to genre
When 56-year-old Xu Fenglan saw a photograph showing about 20 people wearing loose pants, T-shirts and sleeveless tops standing in circles stretching their arms and raising and extending one leg while keeping their balance, she was intrigued.
The photo, which she saw on the internet, was of a dance course called the Gaga class, a contemporary dance movement created by Ohad Naharin, artistic director of the Batsheva Dance Company, formed in Tel Aviv, Israel, in the 1990s.
The class was initially designed for the troupe’s professional dancers, but in the early 2000s, it opened to amateurs, offering sessions not only in Israel but around the world.
In August, the Gaga class came to Beijing for the first time and Xu decided to apply.
“I have loved dancing since I was a little girl. I learned various dance genres, such as ballet, traditional Chinese dance and Chinese folk dance, but I have never learned contemporary dance,” said Xu, who is retired and lives in the capital.
“I could feel the energy of the people dancing together in the photo and I was curious.”
On a sunny morning, she arrived at the Rose Bud, a spacious arts center in Beijing’s 798 Art Zone, a popular destination for contemporary art in the city, and started a five-day course under the tuition of dancerchoreographer Madison Hoke from the United States. The course ran from Aug 17 to 21.
Hoke, who is from Fairmont, West Virginia, and graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, told course participants,“Listen to your body, be aware of others in the room, move silently, either barefoot or in socks, and never stop.”
Hoke, who visited Beijing two years ago with the Sol Dance Company from Israel, started to dance at age 5 and has been a certified Gaga teacher since 2016.
“We encourage students to use rich imagery that stimulates the imagination while dancing. It’s about the passion to move and it helps develop physical possibilities, like flexibility, stamina and efficiency of movement,” she said.
Xu said: “The first day was hard. I had to learn to control my body and to improvise during the hourlong class with no breaks, which was physically challenging. The dance course was totally different to those I attended before, including instruction from the teacher, the music and the techniques.
“Gradually, I became aware of my physical weaknesses and listened to my body. I floated, shook, made circles and curves, which brought me freedom and pleasure. Toward the end of the class, I was a little sweaty, but not tired. There was a shared energy in the room and I felt great.”
Xu was among 50 amateurs who joined the contemporary dance workshops in Beijing, held as part of the ongoing New Dance Festival. In its fifth year, the festival is staged by the Chaoyang Cultural Center and the Beijing 9 Contemporary Dance Theater.
Since the latter was founded in 2010, the aim has been to attract increasing numbers of people to dance.
Luo Xiaoying, director of the theater, said, “Contemporary dance may not appeal to mainstream audiences in a big way, but we’ve built a fan base by taking our workshops to many communities and schools.”
She added that this year, the festival invited Hoke to conduct one of the workshops because “her method encourages people to move, whether they are professional dancers or not”.
Born and raised in Xichang, capital of Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province, Luo, who is from the Yi ethnic group, practiced gymnastics at age 7 and learned to dance when she was 12. From 1994 to 2004, she studied dancing at Minzu University of China in Beijing, enabling her to access a variety of genres, including contemporary styles.
“Each genre has a system and follows strict rules. For example, a ballet dancer must have outstanding posture, whether dancing or not. When I had ballet classes, I had to imagine a straight line running through my spine,” the 37-year-old said.
“But when I attended contemporary dance classes, I felt relaxed and open. I neither had to wear tight-fitting clothes nor listen to the same piece of music I’d listened to hundreds of times. I could move as I needed to move and move as I liked to move. I could choose the music I liked and dance the way I am.”
After graduating in dance in 2004, Luo joined the Chaoyang Cultural Center and became a founding member of the Beijing 9 Contemporary Dance Theater, which has staged nine original contemporary pieces and toured worldwide.
She remembers the first show at the theater nine years ago in Beijing, at which the audience was admitted for free.
“The audience, mostly elderly people, had no idea about contemporary dance. Unlike traditional Chinese dance dramas, which usually tell stories and portray characters, contemporary dance pieces are abstract. But we realized that the audience had lots to discuss about the dancers’ figures and the demanding movements, which inspired us to offer them free dance classes as a way to build up a fan base for contemporary dance,” Luo said.
In 2015, a contemporary amateur dance troupe was founded, supported by the Chaoyang Cultural Center and the Beijing 9 Contemporary Dance Theater. Thirty amateur dancers, ranging in age from 50 to 65, both male and female, stood out among more than 100 candidates.
When auditions were held, the only requirement was that candidates show their passion for dancing and their physical flexibility, Luo said.
At weekly classes, the amateur dancers learn about contemporary dance and rehearse pieces choreographed by dancers from the theater.
“Usually we dance as the teachers demonstrate the movements and we copy them. We want to strip away the stereotypes about dance that audiences have long held, while offering them a new perspective,” Luo said.
Gao Wen, a 66-year-old amateur dancer living in Beijing’s Wangjing neighborhood, took part in a weekend workshop given by Roy Assaf Dance, a contemporary dance company from Israel. Even though the morning was muggy but cold, this failed to deter a group of contemporary dance enthusiasts.
Gao is a member of the Xuan Feng Dance Troupe, an amateur group founded in 2007 by enthusiasts living in Wangjing. It comprises 21 female dancers with an average age of 58.
As the Israeli dancers demonstrated a piece entitled An Evening, Gao observed and danced in front of a mirror.
“It was the first time I had watched and experienced contemporary dance. I am still digesting the latest information about the genre, but I’d love to try more moves,” said Gao, who has been dancing recreationally since she retired as a teacher at age 50 in 2004.
She said many retired people living in the neighborhood are committed to dancing because “it’s where you can meet people and have fun altogether”.
“Dance is a team effort and a great way of staying healthy. We cheer each other on when we perform, and we train for hours together. We also help each other when we learn new moves,” Gao added. “We gain confidence and pleasure.”
In the early 20th century, US dancer Isadora Duncan, who began ballet lessons at an early age and developed her own style, was considered the “mother of contemporary dance”. She allowed the music to lead her movements naturally, without strictly abiding by ballet’s rules of pointed feet and gracefully stretched arms.
In addition to Duncan, US dancer-choreographer Martha Graham is synonymous with contemporary dance. She founded her dance company and school in Manhattan, New York, in 1926 while basing her style on studying the body’s movements, focusing on contraction and release.
Since 2016, Xin Ying, a Chinese dancer-choreographer based in New York and principal dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company, has held workshops for amateur Chinese dancers in Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, capital of Sichuan. In her courses, she has used “inner landscape”, an improvisational practice, which she describes as discovering the relationship between physical movements and personal emotions.
“We focus on elements of contemporary dance, such as the movements of fingertips and the control of the back muscles, rather than advanced techniques,” said Xin, who was born and raised in Yichun, Heilongjiang province, and has danced almost every day since she was age 6. In 2010, she applied to the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and passed an audition.
Xin said professionals are limited to their dancing experiences and habits, but amateur dancers, especially people with no background in dance, have no such restrictions.
“I met an 18-year-old woman during my workshop in Beijing who surprised me with her movements. She was so real and emotional, though her dance techniques were not professional,” Xi said.
She added that Chinese audiences have been increasingly exposed to contemporary dance, with more leading troupes touring the country.
Willy Tsao was one of the pioneers who brought contemporary dance to China in the 1980s.
In 1979, Tsao, who was born in Hong Kong and educated in the US, founded the City Contemporary Dance Company, the first modern dance troupe in Hong Kong.
In 1991, he helped set up the Guangdong Modern Dance Company, the first professional company in the genre on the Chinese mainland. In 1999, he was invited to become artistic director of the Beijing Modern Dance Company, and in 2005, he founded Beijing Dance LDTX. “Your body is free” was the sole advice he gave to dancers.
“The first time I watched a modern dance show in Hong Kong in the early 1970s, it was performed by an American dance troupe at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, and I was instantly hooked,” Tsao recalled in Beijing.
“When I saw the show, I didn’t know what they were doing, but I wanted to join them immediately and dance like them.”
Tsao said contemporary dance is like a philosophical system, which delivers the personal emotions of the artists. It is unlike any other kind of dance form.
“When you watch a contemporary dance performance, it’s like a conversation with the artist, rather than simply appreciating the beauty of dance,” Tsao said. “Contemporary dance learners first have to change their views and aesthetics about dance and then learn to express themselves through physical movements.”
At the annual Modern Dance Week, a festival held by Beijing Dance LDTX in both Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, and Beijing, international dancers stage works and enthusiasts can attend lectures and workshops. In July, the Modern Dance Week in Beijing attracted about 6,000 people.
In addition to professional dancers, it offers amateurs the opportunity to perform onstage, with each piece lasting less than 15 minutes.
“Compared with big-budget movies and TV shows, modern dance still represents a minority taste on the mainland,” Tsao said. “But that’s OK. We have a steady number of people who love contemporary dance and
the figure is rising gradually.”
Dance is a team effort and a great way of staying healthy. We cheer each other on when we perform, and we train for hours together. We also help each other when we learn new moves. We gain confidence and pleasure.” Gao Wen, 66, an amateur dancer living in Beijing’s Wangjing neighborhood