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Hu Xinxin

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  1. Thank you so much Alexandra for the list!
  2. Jin Yao¡¯s partner Zhang Rao got the silver medal. Guo Yuhao (also from China) , junior silver, Wong Yaosheng, junior bronze. FYI.
  3. I have some information on the Chinese dancers only. After the first round, Zhang Rao, a male dancer from the National Ballet of China, ranked NO. 1, and his partner Jin Yao ranked second(at Senior level). Another Chinese male dancer ranked first at the junior level. Sorry I have only heard about the Chinese dancers. FYI.
  4. Thanks for the information. I enjoy the photos and MSGs very much.
  5. Dear Natalia, Have you read the interview with NBC's Director Ms. Zhao Ruheng at ballet.co? It is at http://www.danze.co.uk/dcforum/training/208.html FYI.
  6. Congratulations to Wu Haiyan and Li Jun. Wu Haiyan is not the most gifted girl among the NBC soloists, but she is the most hard working one. Li Jun used to be Wang Qiming’s partner. Since Wang got a gold medal in Moscow last year, and she is dancing more principal roles, Li Jun dances with Wu Haiyan more. NBC dancers have done very well in recent international competitions. I think one of the most important reasons is that they have a wonderful coach, Feng Ying. Feng Ying herself used to be one of our best dancers in 1980s. She was sent to the Paris Opera and spent there a couple of years after graduation from the Beijing Dancer Academy. She became the Ballet Mistress of NBC in mid-1990s. Almost all girls trained by her got the gold medals in the competitions: Zhang Jian in Moscow 1997, Zhu Yan Varna in 1998, Wang Qiming in Moscow 2001 Meng Ningning in Nagoya 2002 and now Wu Haiyan. I am proud of her.
  7. Dear Jeannie, dear Alexanrda, nice to see both of you here. Yes Jeannie, we take Madam Dai as the mother of Chinese ballet. I agree with Helen that some of our dancers and companies have paid too much attention to the international competitions. I think one of the problems with the Chinese ballet companies is that they cannot get sufficient financial supports. The Chinese companies do not tour very often, they take part in the international competitions instead. I guess the companies and the dancers are trying this way to keep the connection with the international stage. I would like to give you some information on the repertoire of the National Ballet of China. I think the first full length classical ballet ever staged in China was Swan Lake, which was premiered in 1958 with Pytr Gusev as the artistic director. Then Gusev staged Le Corsaire in 1959 and Giselle in 1960 for NBC. Alicia Alonso staged La Fillr mal Gardee for the company in 1961. Then it was production with our own director: the Fountain of Bakhchisarai (1962) choreographied by Wang Xixian (after Zahkarov) and Notre Dame Paris with Jiang Zuhui as the choreographer (after Marius Petipa) in 1963. The Red Detachment of Women, which was premiered in 1964, was the first (so-called) Chinese ballet ever performed by NBC. (Beijing Dance Academy had produced the Maid of the Sea before it, but it was with the Chinese fork dance style). There are more Chinese works in the company¡Çs repertoire, including Ode to the Yimeng Mountains (1973), Sing and Dancing under the Camphor (1977), The New-Yaer Sacrifice (1981),Lin Daiyu (1982), Little Blue Flower (1988) and The Yellow River (1999), among others. After (so-called) the Culture Revolution (as At mentioned above), ballet stage flourished once again and NBC introduced more productions, the major ones were Sylvia (Lous Marante/ Lycette Darsonvai, 1980), Don Quixote (Rudolf Nureyev after Marius Petipa, 1985), Romeo and Juliet (Norman Walker, 1990), The Sleeping beauty (staged by Monica Parker, 1995)), La Sylphide (Bounonville, staged by Franck Andersen, 1999), and the Chinese Nutcracker (Zhao Min, Feng Ying and Wang Yuanyuan, 2000). Also, new productions of Giselle (Staged by Belinda Wright and Jelko Yuresha in 1984) and Le Corsaire (staged by Marina Kondrateva in 1998). The shorter pieces: Three Preludes (Ben Stevenson, 1979) G. Balancine¡Çs Serenade (1981), Allegro Brilliant (1996), Theme and Variations (1998) , Who Cares (2002) Pas de Quatre (Anton Dollin, 1984)/ Variantions for Four (Anton Dollin, 1983) The Chairman Dance (Wang Xinpeng, 2000), Rite of Spring (Wang Xinpeng 2000) Concerto (Kenneth MacMillan, 1994) Four Last Songs (Rudi van Dantzig, 1999), Among others. The newest ones: Red Lantern (Wang Xinpeng 2001), Coppelia (2002) Also, during last 5 years, we have seen some nice shows by the visiting companies such as Paris Opera, Das Hamburger Ballet, the Royal Ballet(UK), Kirov Ballet, The Royal Danish Ballet, ABT, Stuttgart Ballet Bejart Ballet Lausonne, Bolshoi, Moscow Musical Theater Ballet , National Ballet of Marseille, National Ballet of Cuba and Compania Nacional de Danca. We have seen Asian companies as well, including the National Ballet of Korea, Tokyo Ballet and others. FYI. Have a cool weekend. PS What I want to say it that if you look at NBC¡Çs repertoire, you would see there are more classical works than contemporary works. Because the Chinese companies usually do not have enough money to buy the copyrights. So unlike most of the European companies, the Chinese companies have to perform more classical pieces. I think this is the reason why the Chinese young dancers can keep a relatively pure classical style than many (so-called) western dancers. We have some very good ballet schools and only the selected children can get professional training at these schools. The Chinese ballet education system is more like Vaganova Academy in Russia. I think this is the reason why the Chinese dancers are strong in the competitions.
  8. Dear fendrock You said Does it seem strange to produce strong dancers in an environment lacking the ballet tradition found in other countries? I would like to ask you a question. Do you know where did the legend ballerina Margot Monteyn start her ballet training? In Shanghai, China.Actually, I don¡Çt think China¡Çs ballet tradition is the newest in Asia or in the world. I would like to tell you some stories. Some Russian people came to China after the October Revolution in 1910s, some of them were teaching ballet to make their lives, and Margot Fonteyn was among their students.. In early 1940s a Trinidad-Tobago born and Rambert trained female dancer called Dai Ailian (she is still alive) came back to China to join the Anti-Japanese War, and founded the first company in China (so far as I know). In 1950s, the country was the friend of the Soviet Union. Many professional experts came from the Soviet to help China¡Çs construction; among them were some ballet teachers. A Russian method ballet school was founded in Beijing to train our own dancers and the Central Ballet of China was founded in 1959, which has presented many productions of Chinese and Western ballet ever since. The golden age of China ballet was 1980s. Rudolf Nureyev came to teach his production of Don Quixote without getting any pay, and after some successful performances, he invited some of our best dancers to guest at the Paris Opera. Now there are 5 ballet companies in PRC. They are smaller in number but they are quite good companies. I have seen quite a lot of ballet performances in USA, Japan and European countries, I don't think the Chinese dancers are inferior to the western dancers at all. Look at Tan Yuan Yuan (with SF Ballet) and Chen Yan (of ABT). Aren't they excellent dancers?
  9. Kevin, I saw Bejart's Bolero and Lacine Cubique with Silvie Guillem and Toyko Ballet last week. Will see Giselle with Viviana Durante and Kumakawa Tetsuya tomorrow. Rasta Thomas was also in Toyko this mounth and danced in Gissle with a company came from Nagoya, but I missed it because I was busy with so many concert/opera performances(and my job as well). I saw him last year in Osaka. He was an interesting dancer. Enjoy your stay in St. Petersburg. It's a lovely city.
  10. Hi, Kevin, You were in St. Petersburg! But Bolshoi is visiting Beijing and dancing Swan Lake on Nov.15-18. I heard the casts would be Uvarov/ Gracheva and Antonicheva/ Sergei Filin. It's a pity that I am in Tokyo and not able to go back to see the performances. I also missed Ballet for Life danced by Bejart Company in Beijing. Helen says it was a great success. [ November 14, 2001: Message edited by: Hu Xinxin ]
  11. Jeannie: You enjoyed your stay in China? Unfortunately we could not see you on TV, but managed to make copies of Shanghai IBC (the final and gala) for you. Please call Helen when you come back to Beijing (if you can read this msg), so that she can pass the videotapes to you (I will be attending a meeting today and tomorrow).
  12. Many thanks, Jeannie. Yao Wei is really an excellent dancer. She is very smart. I think she will be another Tan Yuan Yuan. Have a nice trip and do take care. Kevin, NBC will do Yellow River and La Sylphide in USA.
  13. Many thanks, Jeannie. Our friends in Shanghai report: Jeannie was like an off-stage super star last night. Kevin, sorry that I forgot to answer your question: NBC will tour USA after Giselle. Correction: Giselle will be on September 7,8, 9, and US tour will be from September 25. Canada tour was canceled. BTW, Jeannie, Li Jun is boy friend of Wang Qiming (gold medallist you saw in Moscow) and used to be her partner. But he was injured before the competition. [ 08-17-2001: Message edited by: Hu Xinxin ]
  14. Thank you so much Jeannie and Wa Wa. I would like to talk a little more about the issue LBC. Wa Wa and her friends have posted the list of the dancers who actually danced in the first round. There were surely more dancers from Shanghai than from other places (2 girls and 2 boys in senior section, and 18 girls and 10 boys in Junior). It is easier for the local dancers to attend the IBC, but I think the most important thing is that the Shanghai people take this IBC more seriously. While the National Ballet of China only sent their second ranking dancers to the IBC (Varna Gold medallist Zhu Yan, Moscow Gold Zahng Jian and Wang Qimin, Helsinki Gold and Moscow Bronze Han Bo all missed this IBC), the local Shanghai has sent its best dancers, including the Varna Gold Medallists Fan Xiaofeng and Sun Shenyi. So, I think the local Shanghai is trying their best to keep the level of this IBC. I pay respect to their effort and will never be surprised if the "local" Yao Wei get a gold medal, because she is really an excellent dancer, and has already won Prix de Lausanne and a gold medal in Helsinki. On the other hand, I think the local organizer should pay more attention and efforts to improve their "public service" to make the competition more "IBC" like. [ 08-17-2001: Message edited by: Hu Xinxin ]
  15. Hi, Jeannie, nice to see you in Beijing and many thanks for you report. I think our friends in Shanghai would give you lots of local help. They repot us in Chinese every day. Please call Wa Wa at 64381100 (ext.) 104(daytime) / 62622591(home) / or 1362 1919 749. BTW, National Ballet of China will give 3 performances of Giselle from September 6. It a pity that you Can not see it. Take care in Shanghai.
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