China News Service, Kunming, February 12th (Chen Xuelian and Miao Chao) Wearing a gradually flowing and elegant red-gold dress, with a natural oriental charm, she danced like "Fanghua in the Golden Age". At the 2024 Yunnan Provincial Spring Festival Gala, which is a joint effort between central and southern regions and South-South cooperation, Yunnan young dancer Yang Wu joined hands with a group of young dancers to present a beautiful visual feast to the audience, allowing China’s excellent traditional culture to shine in the warmth of thousands of homes Confidence and light bloom in the lights.
The picture shows Yang Wu (middle) and young dancers performing the dance "Youth in the Golden Age" at the 2024 Yunnan Spring Festival Gala. Photo provided by the party organizer
"We are dressed in red and gold dance skirts, like the spikes of lanterns, dancing with the rhythm under the lights that symbolize reunion and happiness." Speaking of the idea of "Youth in the Prosperous Age", Yang Wu said that it was derived from the lantern, a traditional handicraft of the Chinese nation. The images of plum blossoms, orchids, bamboos and chrysanthemums that constantly flash in the background of the stage are exactly the patterns often used on lantern covers. "These are the 'Four Gentlemen' in the hearts of Chinese people, representing the nobility and romance in our hearts." Yang Wu explained.
Yang Wu's original name was "Yang Wu". When she was 12 years old, in order to pursue her dream of dancing, she stubbornly left her hometown of Pu'er to study dance in other places, regardless of her family's objections. After years of unremitting efforts, he was finally admitted to Yunnan University of the Arts in 2004.
Yang Wu made her debut with "Peacock Dance". In the light and shadow, the peacock dances, trembling lightly, bursting out the passion of life in its delicate beauty. "The peacock symbolizes good luck, happiness and perfection. The peacock eats poisonous insects and poisonous fruits, but turns into a beautiful body of feathers. This warns us: people must get rid of the 'five poisonous hearts' of greed, anger, ignorance, pride and doubt." This is Yang Wu's understanding.
For each work, Yang Wu will consult a lot of information, think over and over again, because in her view, to become an excellent dancer, love and skills alone are far from enough. To express and create excellent works with more depth, "cultural literacy and aesthetic ability must be continuously improved, which requires continuous acquisition over time."
In 2022, Yang Wu has a work "Dream Lotus" that is quite out of the circle. The finger dance 20 seconds before the opening is graceful and agile, as if a lotus is swaying with the waves. Yang Wu said that in fact, she had performed "Dream Lotus" more than ten years ago, and won the Silver Award in the National Folk Single, Duo and Trio Dance Category at the 7th China Dance Lotus Award for this work. "But when I was young, I imitated the postures of water lilies more, which was more concrete. As my experience increased, I looked at things differently, and my approach to dance was also very different."
After years of training, Yang Wu is now a frequent guest in major festival dance performances on major major TV stations, and has created and participated in many high-quality dances. "Lotus Heart" that expresses an indifferent mood, "Scarecrow" that pays tribute to the late "Father of Hybrid Rice" Yuan Longping, and "Feng Dancing in the Sky" that dances with AI... surprised the audience.
Why are you constantly inspired to create? Yang Wu said that on the one hand, she benefited from the land of Yunnan where she was born and raised, which is known as the "Kingdom of Animals and Plants". The creatures in nature and the harmonious coexistence between man and nature are one of her sources of inspiration. Her more important "muse" is the profound Chinese traditional culture, philosophy and wisdom. For example, she performed "Fire" which originated from the fire pond culture of the Yi people, "Dream Lotus" and "Lotus Heart" inspired by Buddhist culture, and "Fanghua" performed in this year's Yunnan Spring Festival Gala.
Yang Wu also said frankly that the development of technology has provided dancers with a broader creative space and realized more visual possibilities. For example, in "Phoenix Dances in the Sky", Yang Wu and AI present a beautiful scene of two phoenixes dancing together. In "The Age of Youth", 128 cameras filmed Yang Wu in 360 degrees, "condensing time and space" with her most graceful and stretched movements. The audience can fully appreciate the elegant and elegant dance postures and feel the profound heritage and heritage of Chinese traditional culture. Cultural confidence in the new era.
As a dancer, Yang Wu has always been improving his business. As the dean of Kunming Vocational College of Art, Yang Wu has more hopes for the younger generation of dancers. "Young people should be more artistically experimental and creative." Yang Wu said , will lead students to create more rich characters, create dance works with different themes, and use dance to inherit and carry forward the excellent traditional Chinese culture. (over)