CONFLUENCE OF STYLES

The second season of a Chinese TV show brings top dancers onstage, Cheng Yuezhu reports.

In a performance, the dancer resembles a moving statue, an archetypical embodiment of the human body, with an equilibrium between strength and tenderness, maximizing physical potential via myriad ephemeral motions.

With modern technology, the fleeting moments can be framed, not just as nebulous snapshots but in a rotational slow-motion sequence supported by more than 100 cameras that zoom in on a single dance movement from different angles.

Dance Smash, a Chinese talent show produced by Hunan Satellite TV that features the technology to capture diverse dance styles in motion, is now airing its second season. This year adopting the same setting, members of a stellar cast express themselves in a short dance sequence under the spotlight.

As if in the eye of the storm, individual dancers or ensembles present breathtaking performances, while after the show the audience breaks into waves of applause. Based on the dancers' skills, the show's judges select those who move on to the next round of competition.

The stage setting features minimal design and emphasizes visceral energy. Audience members, seated around the circular stage, can get a 360-degree view of the dancers' performance.

The mere presence of the principal dancer of San Francisco Ballet, Tan Yuanyuan, leaves the judges and audiences in awe in the third episode. The Shanghai-born dancer became a ballet legend after joining the ballet company in 1995 and being promoted to principal dancer in two years.

"I have never left the stage for so long since I entered San Francisco Ballet at 18," Tan says, adding that the company stopped offline performances in March due to COVID-19, and her pining for the stage propelled Tan to accept an invitation from the TV program in China.

The piece she debuted on the Dance Smash stage is entitled Return.

"With my love for dance, I returned to the stage, and to the land from which I had taken off. It's a journey to rediscover the stage I had lost in those seven months."

Although she's an internationally acclaimed ballet dancer, Tan says the program is proving to be a novel experience for her, with its high-intensity recording schedules and limited time for choreography and rehearsals.

Tan says the first season of the program brought dancers and the audience close, and introduced dance styles to the general public. The program features a wide range of styles, including contemporary dance, Latin and hip-hop.

Tan says by participating in the second season, she wants to present high-quality works on TV, allowing a wider audience to love ballet.

"Under the current circumstances where live performances are rare, how to bring a better viewing experience to the audience with technology and other methods is a subject worth exploring," Tan says.

Expressing a similar yearning for the stage and featuring a kindred female power, award-winning dancer Hua Xiaoyi presented a piece of Chinese classical dance, Everlasting Longing, with the show's judges complimenting her exquisite mien and elegant yet expressive mannerisms.

Hua says on the program that it has been two years and nine months since she last performed onstage, during which time she had a baby. While she kept on practicing in that period, each time she went to watch a show, she would leave fearing she might be recognized by the public and suspected that she would never dance again.

"I'm here, back on the stage－the round stage which in my mind is the starting point and the original inspiration. On this stage, I want to bloom even more beautifully, more distinctively," Hua says.

The second dance Hua performed during the show, See Yourself, was a dramatic departure from the initial image she formed. A tribute to the 2013 film The Grandmaster, the performance sees her dressed in a traditional black robe and incorporating martial arts poses into classical dance.

"These two pieces are a new way of expressing myself after being immersed in classical culture. The former represents the spirit and culture of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) that attracts me, a state of civilization with supreme beauty and prosperity," Hua tells China Daily.

"The latter is my understanding of the martial arts practitioners... I think ultimately human beings are combating time and themselves, not somebody else."

Her choice of bringing performances with different styles is made to demonstrate the elasticity and control of the human body and the effects of expression.

"I find the stage of Dance Smash a diverse and inclusive one. It's very rare for so many talented dancers representing different styles to compete and cooperate on the same stage. It makes me happy to see the life experience of other performers conveyed through dance,"Hua adds.

Contact the writer at chengyuezhu@chinadaily.com.cn