[Editor's Note]
2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France. Looking back at the journey, we can see that the good communication atmosphere between the two countries has created conditions for countless individual interactions, and in this encounter, there are more individual adventures worth telling. Over the past 60 years, countless Chinese and French women have shuttled between the two cultures. In the process of dealing with the unknown, they have found their own value and position, and gradually polished their own shining beauty, becoming the driving force for China and France to move forward. The power of beauty. On the occasion of International Women's Day, we invited 7 Chinese and French women to talk about the adventures and flashes of individual women in Sino-French interactions.
Wang Yabin is Wang Xiaomeng in the TV series "Country Love" and Jin Yan in "Massage". In film and television dramas, her beauty is simple and clear, and she is remembered by the audience.
But as a dancer, Wang Yabin believes that the character of Xiao Yanqiu in the dance drama "Tsing Yi" is the most suitable. The extreme and coldness is full of the pursuit of art "not crazy, not evil".
What Wang Yabin enjoys most is performing on stage. "It's like I can see myself dancing from a God's perspective." She studied dance at the age of six and was admitted to the High School Affiliated to the Beijing Dance Academy at the age of nine. She later graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy and appeared on the Spring Festival Gala as a lead dancer five times. In 2009, she established Yabin Dance Studio and launched the brand performance "Yabin and Her Friends" in the same year, which has been successfully held for fourteen years. She is a dancer, choreographer, director and producer.
In 2014, the Sino-French Culture Year, she performed the dance drama "Growth" in important theaters and art festivals in Paris, Montpellier and other cities in France. She asked the audience together, "Life, where do we come from? Growth, we Where are you going?" philosophy of life. In 2024, the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, she and a French composer jointly brought the Chinese classic "Journey to the West" to the stage.
Wang Yabin said that dance is the best way for her to communicate with the world. The cross-cultural nature of dance art has brought her closer and connected with audiences from different cultural backgrounds.
The following text is compiled based on Wang Yabin’s dictation.
Wang Yabin in the performance, photo provided by the interviewee
Wang Xiaomeng in "Country Love" is a dancer
I think the most beautiful moment for a woman is when she presents her professionalism very confidently. I am a dancer by profession and my most beautiful moments are on stage.
I am a cognitively precocious person. When I was 20 years old, I admired female artists in their forties and fifties and wanted to be closer to them. I felt that the temperament brought by that age was very beautiful.
But there are many types of beauty. When I was 21 years old, I played "Wang Xiaomeng" in "Country Love". I think Wang Xiaomeng's character has a rustic beauty, which is very simple and clear.
I grew up in the city. In order to shape the character, I did a lot of homework. I went to the countryside with the crew to experience life and write biographies of characters. From observation, body imitation, to deliberate practice. I guess the crew may have seen something in common with "Wang Xiaomeng".
In the TV series "Massage" released in 2013, I played the role of "Jin Yan". Director Kang Honglei said that he had seen my dance performance and he saw my tenacity, persistence and ultimate pursuit in the dance. He felt that "Jin Yan"'s attitude towards love without turning around or looking back was very similar to mine.
The few TV series I have participated in are not planned things, but more like a cross-border experience. I can understand the audio-visual language through film and television performances, and learn how to present stories and characters, which is helpful for me as a dancer, choreographer, and director. For me, dance has always been the main thread of my career.
So at first, I couldn't figure out why the audience called me "Wang Xiaomeng". Before playing this role, I had already appeared on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala and won the "First Prize in Performance" in the "Taoli Cup" National Dance Competition. Later, when I went to Beijing Film Academy to study for graduate school, I asked my instructor about this confusion. He said, you have only filmed a few TV series and you have created a remarkable screen image. You should be proud of it. If you don't perform well, you won't leave such a deep impression on the audience.
Since then, I have adopted this title.I also hope that through theater performances, more people will know that the actor who plays "Wang Xiaomeng" is a dancer and can dance so well.
Among the roles I have played, I feel that I am most closely related to the character of Xiao Yanqiu in the dance drama "Tsing Yi". We are all the kind of people who are particularly sensitive, "not crazy, not devilish" about art, and pursue the ultimate.
In 2015, when I first started acting in "Tsing Yi", it was easy for me to get caught up in the characters' emotions. After every performance, it takes a long time for me to escape from "Xiao Yanqiu". In life, I devote all my energy to artistic creation, which makes me particularly nervous.
As I grow older, I have learned to leave the ultimate to art. In life, I try to relax myself, not to be happy with things, not to be sad with myself, and to be an ordinary person. In this way, I found that my sensitivity was stronger, it was easier to capture flashes of inspiration, my stress was released, and I felt much better.
Wang Yabin’s personal photo, photo provided by the interviewee
student, where did he come from? Commander, where are you going?
In 2009, I founded the "Yabin and Her Friends" art brand series. My original intention was to hope that domestic creations could go global, and at the same time, I could invite international artists to China and create good works for the audience.
The dance drama "Tsing Yi" is the seventh work in this series, adapted from the novel of the same name by teacher Bi Feiyu. The theme of the dance drama is about the torture of life - how to place life. We derived the form of dance from three clues: play within play, daily life, subconsciousness and surreality.
I am not only the lead actor, but also the choreographer and director. What I enjoy most is the process of performing on stage, as if I can see myself dancing from a God's perspective. I like this feeling of immersion very much. I feel that it is the highlight moment of life. Burning on the stage is a particularly enjoyable thing.
"Yabin and Her Friends" focuses on the expression of common human themes, such as love, life and death, war, faith, etc.
In 2013, I collaborated with the famous Belgian choreographer Sidi Rabi Cherkaoui to create the dance drama "Growth", trying to explore the question "When we are born, where do we come from? When we grow, where do we go?" A philosophical reflection on life. At the beginning of
, dancers appeared from the glass box and continued to reorganize the space. In the laboratory, the dancers wore white coats, masks and gloves to cultivate new life. Breaking through the constraints of the glass box is like breaking through a certain stage of life, from understanding the spatial environment, mastering logical coding, to interpreting language and life.
The performance scene of the dance drama "Growing Up", photo provided by the interviewee
We had the world premiere at the National Center for the Performing Arts. I remember that after the performance, a Chinese audience told me on Weibo that he went to see this drama and contemporary dance. The abstract expression made it difficult for him to understand the plot. A few days later, he said that a few nights after watching "Growth", he had a lingering feeling. Pictures of different dance passages appeared in his mind. He felt like changes in time and space and the interaction of souls.
In 2014, the Sino-French Culture Year, we toured France with our dance drama "Growth" and were invited by important theaters and art festivals in Paris, Montpellier, Dijon and other cities. When more than 2,000 spectators in the theater stood up and applauded enthusiastically, I burst into tears several times. The cross-cultural nature of dance art has brought us closer and connected.
I think the difference from Chinese audiences is that French audiences have a more romantic understanding of our works, and they view "birth" and "growth" more abstractly. Some French media said: "This is like dancing under the moonlight. This is a brief encounter between East and West. We see manipulated bodies, the impact of transparent spheres and all living beings competing for life and death in the dance."
But after all, it is an eternal theme of mankind. In essence, Western audiences have something in common with us in their pursuit of life, death, love, and beauty.
In 2024, the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France, under the planning of Professor Dong Qiang, dean of Peking University’s Yenching School and translator, as a choreographer and director, I will work with French composer Laurent Pettigirard to present Chinese classics The masterpiece "Journey to the West" was brought to the stage.
Petty Girard said that when he was sixteen, his family bought him a French copy of "Journey to the West" and he couldn't put it down. He especially hopes to have a dance drama about "Journey to the West", for which he will be responsible for composing the music.
The dance drama "Journey to the West" uses a circular narrative structure to tell the story of Sun Wukong's life, and also gives the Bull Demon King a considerable proportion of the plot. The screenwriter and I have discussed this, and we feel that we need to have a contemporary conception and thinking. Sun Wukong and the Bull Demon King have different life choices. They mirror each other, representing different choices and development trajectories in life, and the final destinations they reach are also different.
When creating and generating new perspectives and understandings based on classic literary works, you will encounter many challenges. We consulted experts for their opinions and did a lot of research on the paragraphs, perspective, and structure of the dance drama "Journey to the West." The reason why I chose the perspective of Sun Wukong is because he is both serious and interesting in the so-called game life.
has commented that the characters and visual presentation in "Journey to the West" are very novel. In Sun Wukong, everyone sees free and unrestrained thoughts and continuous evolution.
From 2014 to 2024, ten years later, through two collaborations with French artists, we explored common human themes in different cultural backgrounds. I think dance is the best way for me to communicate with the world. I am eager to use my body language to bring a smart and vivid artistic image to the stage, so as to resonate with more people who are eager to establish connections in the spiritual world. Feel a more intense life experience together.
Portrait of Wang Yabin, photo provided by the interviewee
"Dancing is the best way for me to communicate with the world"
When I was young, I was particularly prone to colds. When I was six years old, my parents sent me to dance in order to keep me in shape. From then on, I basically had no time to play. My dance teacher discovered my talent in dance, and when I was nine years old, I was admitted to the High School Affiliated to the Beijing Dance Academy. At that time, I stayed until the building management aunt came to lock the door and clear the place every day, and I was exhausted when I left the training ground.
Because of my solid skills in water sleeve dance, in 2003, by chance, I was selected to do the choreography of the water sleeve dance for the film "House of Flying Daggers" directed by Zhang Yimou. I was very interested in movies at the time and wanted to see what the studio was like. In order to achieve the effect of the film shooting era, the crew's water sleeve props have longer sleeves, and the dancing range needs to be larger. During the process of drumming with water sleeves, the dance must have a sense of power. It is also a big challenge for professional dancers.
But my experience on the set is also empowering my stage design. When filming film and television dramas, I will observe the director’s settings, images, and editing logic of the broadcast version. Use the composition, color, and transitions in film and television dramas for stage design.
In my spare time, I like to write. In 2009, I wrote a lot, writing 20,000 to 30,000 words of reflections every month. Later, when I get busy, I will also write some essays at night, or write a paragraph on my phone whenever I have some insights. Writing is a kind of emotional expression, recalling creation and explaining artistic concepts. Sometimes, a novel-like plot pops up in my mind, or I hear a story told by others, and I think about what a good novel subject it is. I hope that I can write novels in the future, but I am not yet at the stage where I can write novels.
I am a very sensitive person, and sometimes I am prone to pain. When friends chat together and talk about sad things, it feels particularly painful for me to hear them. In turn, I am particularly sensitive to happiness.
Recently, I was reading the book "The Hero with a Thousand Faces". The book traces stories related to heroic adventures in almost all mythological systems around the world, and tells the story of the forging of heroes. Because it has something to do with the dance drama "Journey to the West", I hope to be inspired by it. In April this year, we will revise "Journey to the West" again to make the theme more people-friendly.
I think the identities of dancer, director, writer and actor are not in conflict but complement each other. As a dancer, I have my own creative ideas that I want to express. When I become a director, I have the opportunity to realize my ideas in my works.
In 2017, I also served as a promotion ambassador for the "Spring of Sino-French Cultural Exchange" together with Jia Zhangke and Sui Jianguo. Our studio is located in Beijing, very close to the French Embassy. Every year during the "Sino-French Cultural Exchange Spring" event, we are invited by the French Embassy to watch French movies and dance dramas. I think the cultural exchanges between China and France have not changed much in recent years, and the exchanges between artists have always been very close.
The creative team of the dance drama "Journey to the West" includes French composers, lighting designers, and stage designers. In them, I feel the romance, spontaneity and creativity of the French. For the stage visual design, the lighting designer will have his own thoughts. I propose the desired effect, and he will not only make the lights look the way you want, but also ask for the reasons.
Once we finished a performance in Montpellier, France, and when we were about to fly to the next city, we met at the airport a French audience who had attended the performance the night before. Several young people came from far away and gave us many compliments. I am also very touched to be recognized by the audience.
I think that only when artists work together can they have deeper exchanges on universal issues and themes. I hope to transcend different cultural backgrounds, elaborate on creative concepts that integrate Chinese and Western styles, and bring my works to a broader world.
I am never satisfied, because I think artistic creation is a process of continuous mosaic. I don’t want to make something similar, I hope it can be better, and better again.
Last year, before "Journey to the West" was screened, there were many revisions and fine-tuning during the rehearsal stage. I watch it in the audience every time, constantly adjusting the details. For example, the character's reaction can be stronger, for example, the twisting movement can have a pause...
In the future, I want to adapt the dance drama "Tsing Yi" into a dance art The movie is now in preparation. Because movies have a wider reach. There will definitely be times when I get old and retire from the stage, and it is unlikely that I will stay on the stage forever. If it is made into a dance art film, the work will have a chance to be seen by more people and touch more people.
I hope to follow my inner voice, even if it goes a little slower.
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