Ying Dance Theatre Breaks New Ground With Their Contemporary Dance Debut
Although modern dance became popular in Western countries like the United States and Germany in the early 20th century – thanks to its free and expressive nature – it has a relatively short history in China.
Unlike other longstanding local performance arts like folk dancing and traditional opera, modern dance is hampered in China by a lack of funding, government support, and a lack of resident dance companies, among other factors.
Such a state of affairs means that Chinese dance companies like Ying Dance Theatre remain privately run and supported exclusively by its members and whatever funds they have access to. Ying specifically was founded last year by modern dance performer Yu Jinying, who goes simply by Ying, along with three fellow dancers Hu Jing, Han Cheng, and Yu Guojun. The troupe is dedicated to modern dance despite the financial barriers.
When we visited the Ying Dance Theatre workshop, located next to the East Fifth Ring Road, the dancers were rehearsing to a metronome, rolling across the floor as lithe as springs. Ying, who acts as both choreographer and lead dancer, was instructing the troupe to repeat a single movement over and over until it was executed to his satisfaction.
Yet when we sat down for a talk after the rehearsal, Ying was mellow and easy-going; a totally different person from the rigorous and meticulous lead dancer we saw before.
“The very second my foot touches the dancing floor, I’m not me anymore," Ying says. "When dancing, I don’t treat myself as a person, but more like a simple object or a sort of symbol that moves along with the music."
Although setting out on his dance career at 18, a relatively late age for most professionals, Ying rapidly rose to the top of his dancing class in the Beijing Contemporary Music School. His dancing was so good, in fact, that Ying was later recruited by Tao Dance Theatre, one of the most influential dance organizations in China. His five-year stint at Tao gave him the chance to learn from other top professionals in the field and tour around the world.
Despite all that he learned and achieved at that prestigious dance theater, Ying yearned to create his own distinctive, bolder choreographies in order to better express himself. He decided to quit and form his own theater, despite the myriad of plights that such an untrodden path has in store, especially in the beginning.
At first, for instance, the troupe didn’t even have a space to practice so they rehearsed wherever they could, be it under overpasses, or on the street. That was until a friend of Ying’s kindly provided them with a studio in Tongzhou, in the outskirts of Beijing. They persisted despite the minus 10-degree temperatures and a lack of heating.
“I literally have nothing, but that’s what gives me the courage to dream big. It’s when I have nothing that I get to know clearly what I want,” says Ying.
Ying's commitment and perseverance is finally paying off, and the company is currently readying for their debut performance. Consisting of two halves: M and O (lasting 45 and 25 minutes, respectively) were created by Ying in late 2017 and he has been honing them ever since. In each, Ying hopes to impart his distinct take on modern dance. As the audience, it will be our chance to travel the path that Ying traveled to get here.
Catch Ying Dance Theatre in M and O at the Multi-Dimensional Theatre, Apr 12-13. You can watch previews of both dances here and here. The performance will be accompanied by an improvisational score by Li Tieqiao. Tickets cost RMB 80-480.
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Email: kuang@thebeijinger.com
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Photos courtesy of Ying Dance Theatre
