Profile: Choreographer Wang Yuanyuan is still pushing the boundaries as she celebrates the 10th anniversary of her contemporary dance company.
Choreographer Wang Yuanyuan is still pushing the boundaries as she celebrates the 10th anniversary of her contemporary dance company
December marks the 10th anniversary of Beijing Dance Theater, the leading contemporary ballet company in China. Launched in 2008 by dancer-choreographer Wang Yuanyuan with set designer Tan Shaoyuan and lighting designer Han Jiang, Beijing Dance Theater has staged 17 full-length original choreographic works and has toured more than 30 countries so far.
“When we first staged our work in China, few audiences knew what contemporary ballet was,” says Wang in Beijing.
The company made its debut at Tianqiao Theater with her choreographic work, Space Diary. Now, 10 years on, Wang will lead her 14 dancers in a celebratory anniversary show at Tianqiao Theater on Dec 8.
Some of Wang’s choreographic
pieces, including Haze, The
Nightingale and The Rose, and The Golden Lotus, will be performed onstage, and documentaries about the company and interviews with Wang and her dancers will be screened.
What makes Wang even more excited about the 10th anniversary of her company is that her theater got a new home three months ago: a 270-square-meter, two-story compound, which is located near the North Fifth Ring Road, about a one-hour drive from the downtown area of the capital.
In China, contemporary dance is still a minority interest and, as such, in the early years, getting funding was a struggle for Wang. She had to move her theater twice because of the high rents.
“From now on, we have our own theater where we can dance,” says Wang with a big smile while looking at the 218 audience seats, which have been newly installed.
“Whenever we perform in a country for the first time, I put a pin on the map hanging on my office wall. Now, when I look at the map, I feel proud,” says Wang. “During the past 10 years, we have staged more performances overseas than in China because the audience here for contemporary ballet is limited. But with our new home, we will have more opportunity to perform for our audience in Beijing.”
Born and raised in Beijing, Wang started learning Chinese dance when she was 10 years old. She graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy in 1995, before she studied contemporary dance choreography at the California Institute of the Arts for two years from 2000 to 2002 for her master’s degree.
Now in her 40s, Wang is known for her choreography, including works for the New York City Ballet, the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the ballet
Raise the Red Lantern directed by Zhang Yimou, and the dance scenes in director Feng Xiaogang’s movie, The Banquet. Recalling her decision to start the Beijing Dance Theater, Wang says that it was out of pure idealism and her goal was “to move the body in another way and create moves I have never seen before”. With no government support, her company relies on grants, commissions and ticket sales.
The first piece to gain international attention for Beijing Dance Theater was Haze in 2009. It depicted
Wang’s response to the economic crisis and environmental issues.
Next year, her choreographic work, Poison, will tour Europe. Consisting of three parts, Poisonous Apple, Opium and Hand of God, the work explores human emotions, such as desire, obsession, ambition and temptation, through body movements.
“Dance as an art has to be about more than the technique. It has to deliver messages, which make you think,” Wang says. “I am glad that some of my earlier works are still touring worldwide. The issues we talk about through the works are still relevant today.”
Wang’s latest choreographic work is A Leaf in the Storm, which premiered this June in Beijing and is based on a war novel by Lin Yutang (1895-1976). Dealing with subjects such as romance, hope, belief, madness and death, Wang asked her dancers to perform with both physical movement and dialogue, which is her attempt to blur the line between different art forms.
In June 2017, along with her longtime partners and friends, Tan and Han, Wang launched Beijing Repertory Theater, which enables her to explore a different way of self-expression.
Last September, Wang made her directorial debut with a production of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s 1888 stage drama, The Lady From The Sea.
“As a choreographer, she has a different vision for drama, one that’s unique,” notes Han, who is a renowned lighting and stage set designer.
“I am not intimidated by stepping into another field, like drama and opera, because I have no experiences with those arts form and I feel free,” Wang says. “Ten years ago, we introduced something new to the audience. Now we still want to do something different.”