Chinanews client, Beijing, November 21 (Reporter Zhang Xi Song Yusheng) Chen Ailian, a famous Chinese dance artist, died of illness in the early morning of November 21 at the age of 81.

　　The reporter learned from Chen Ailian's daughter that Chen Ailian had previously been diagnosed with gastric cancer, and the course of the disease progressed very quickly. "It was already at an advanced stage when found, and bone metastases occurred."

Data map: Chen Ailian.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Du Yang

　　Feng Shuangbai, chairman of the Chinese Dancers Association, revealed in an interview with The Beijing News that he had wanted to visit Chen Ailian in the hospital many times before, but was declined by the other party because Chen Ailian didn't want people to see herself in illness.

Before she died, Chen Ailian asked her family to put on the costumes of "Chun Jiang Hua Yue Ye" and left the world without any regrets.

　　Chen Ailian's life is pure and extraordinary.

　　Born in Shanghai in 1939, Chen Ailian was born in Panyu, Guangdong. She entered the Shanghai orphanage with her younger sister because of the death of both parents.

In 1952, she was admitted to the student class of the Dance Company affiliated to the Central Academy of Drama from the orphanage. Two years later, Chen Ailian was selected to study at the Beijing Dance School, the first dance school in China.

　　In 1959, Chen Ailian stayed as a teacher after graduation, and participated in the discussion of China's first Chinese classical dance teaching method and demonstrated this teaching material to the teachers. At the same time, she served as the team leader of the folk dance drama group.

In China's first national ballet dance drama "Fish Mermaid", she played the leading role of the female protagonist, the Mermaid, and she has since become popular.

　　In 1978, in the dance drama "Princess Wencheng", Chen Ailian played the role of Princess Wencheng and won the first prize of the Ministry of Culture. At the same time, she won the title of "March 8th Red Banner Bearer" by the Ministry of Culture.

In the same year, she starred in the Chinese Art Troupe that went to the United States for the first time.

　　It is worth mentioning that Chen Ailian played Lin Daiyu in the national dance drama "Dream of Red Mansions". From 1981 to 1986, she performed nearly 400 shows, each of which was very popular.

Data map: Chen Ailian.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Du Yang

　　In 1989, in response to an attempt to reform the central literature and art system to promote the development of literature and art, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Chen Ailian founded the self-financing private "Chen Ailian Art Troupe" and served as its head.

The art troupe travels around the country, visiting factories, towns, and entertainment venues, with an average of more than 300 performances per year.

　　In 1995, she used all the income from the hard performances of the art troupe to establish the Ailian Dance School.

This is a secondary art school located in the southern suburbs of Beijing.

　　At the beginning of the school, Chen Ailian and her husband lived in a bungalow with a tin roof on the school. The summer was as hot as a pot and the winter was as cold as a cellar. They lived for 8 years and did not move out until the dormitory was completed in 2003.

Later, she sold all the properties in Guangzhou and Beijing, and made the school her home.

　　Later, she said in an interview that she has a complex, that is, she especially wants to give back to the society and do something for China's dance career and education.

Since growing up from an orphan to a dancer, Chen Ailian feels that she has met too many good people, seized the best opportunity, and received the best education.

Data map: Chen Ailian.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Du Yang

　　In recent years, there have been news that Chen Ailian appeared in dance dramas almost every year.

　　Just in 2019, the large-scale classical dance drama "Dream of Red Mansions" was staged in Beijing. The 80-year-old famous dance artist Chen Ailian led the star and played Lin Daiyu, who is "like a beautiful flower shines in the water in a quiet time, and acts like a weak Liu Fufeng" in the dance drama.

　　Reports at the time stated that during the two-hour performance, Chen Ailian completed difficult movements such as lower back, splits and continuous rotation.

　　Chen Ailian said, "Every time I re-run, I will re-read the original work, and each time I will have new insights, constantly adjust the rhythm of the script, and add new movements and dances."

　　She feels that her experience is very similar to Lin Daiyu's. "Lin Daiyu's parents died when she was a child, and my parents died when I was a child; Lin Daiyu is a Jiangnan woman, I was born in Shanghai; Lin Daiyu is frail and sick, and I am not in good health."

　　What kind of dance is a good dance?

Chen Ailian believes that although dancers must have excellent skills, this is not the only criterion for a good dancer.

"Only when we know the true attributes of dance can we better manage it."

　　For Chen Ailian, dance is the love of her life.

She once said that dance is an eternal art, "My dancing life has no end. If I don't let me dance now, I will die." (End)