China's first original ballet production, Red Detachment of Women, is one of Li Chengxiang's choreographic works. It has become a classic in the National Ballet of China's repertoire, with the new generation of ballet dancers performing the piece every year. [Photo by Shi Ren/for China Daily]
China's dance scene mourns performing arts pioneer, Li Chengxiang, who passed away last week.
Tributes have been pouring in for Li Chengxiang, a renowned Chinese dancer-choreographer, who died at the age of 87 on Dec 14 after a long illness.
According to the National Ballet of China, which was headed by Li from 1984 to 1994, he was diagnosed with cancer in 2002, but his health condition worsened over the past two years.
On Dec 17, Chinese ballet dancers, former colleagues and friends of Li gathered at the National Ballet of China in Beijing to mourn his passing.
Ballet in China has a nearly 60-year history. Li was among the first group of Chinese ballet dancers who received training from Russian experts in the 1950s. In 1957, Li became the assistant teacher of the Beijing Dance School when Russian dancer and choreographer Pyotr Gusev was the school's artistic director.
With the founding of the National Ballet of China in 1959, Li played in the first three classic ballet productions adapted by the troupe: Swan Lake, Le Corsaire (The Pirate) and Giselle.
Of all his choreographic works, the best known is Red Detachment of Women, China's first original ballet production, which premiered in the capital in 1964 and in which, Li played the ruthless landlord Nan Batian. It is perhaps best known in the West as the ballet performed for former US president Richard Nixon during his visit to China in 1972.
Late dancer-choreographer Li Chengxiang. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Based on a 1961 film of the same name, which was directed by Xie Jin, it tells the story of a rural girl, Wu Qionghua, who escapes a life of slavery and joins an all-female Communist Party army battalion led by commander Hong Changqing on Hainan Island during the civil war in the early 1930s.
To better understand and portray the female soldiers, Li led the composer Wu Zuqiang, choreographers Jiang Zuhui and Wang Xixian, as well as ballet dancers Bai Shuxiang, Zhong Runliang and Liu Qingtang on a trip to Hainan.
"The dancers took off their ballet shoes and put on army boots. They received strict training just like soldiers," says Feng Ying, a veteran ballet dancer and the director of the National Ballet of China, who has also performed the leading female role of Wu Qionghua.
"Li also incorporated the moves of Peking Opera into his choreography, which was pioneering," adds Zhao Ruheng, renowned ballet dancer and former director of the National Ballet of China, who took the position after Li's 10-year tenure ended in 1994.
Li plays the ruthless landlord Nan Batian in the ballet Red Detachment of Women during its premiere in 1964. [Photo provided to China Daily]
"Li had made great contribution to the development of Chinese ballet. He also shared his vision about art playing an important role in the life of people. The missions of developing Chinese ballet and training homegrown ballet dancers had always been on his mind."
Feng says that Red Detachment of Women is still evolving since a new generation of ballet dancers perform the piece every year.
"We are proud that the ballet piece not only appeals to audiences in China, but is also well-received when we tour abroad," Feng says. "It portrays Chinese women in powerful roles that broke with the traditional image of weak women of the time. The spirit of the story is shared by women worldwide. It's the best example of telling a Chinese story through a Western art form."
Li, who was born in Harbin, Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, graduated from North China University, the predecessor of Renmin University of China, with a major in theater. He started working with the Central Academy of Drama as a dancer in 1954 and, that same year, he was enrolled to study ballet at the Beijing Dance School and started choreographing his original dance pieces.
Li (second left) gives guidance to a dancer during a rehearsal. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Established dancer Chen Ailian began studying traditional Chinese dance in Beijing in 1952. She met Li for the first time at Beijing Dance School in 1954 when Li invited her to dance in his choreographic work, Shepherdess.
"It was the first time that I learned Tibetan dance moves and Li was inspiring to me," recalls Chen, 79, who was born in Shanghai and grew up in an orphanage.
In 1959, under the instruction and direction of Russian experts, Yu Mei Ren (The Beautiful Mermaid) premiered in Beijing－it was the first Chinese dance drama to combine Western ballet with traditional Chinese dance moves. Li was one of the choreographers and Chen played the leading role.
"Few Chinese choreographers combined ballet and traditional Chinese dance as well as Li did then. He understood the language of the two dance forms," Chen says.
