Just past the Spring Festival Gala of the Year of the Ox, ballet dancer Tan Yuanyuan, Zhang Aoyue and Li Yundi joined forces to perform the creative program "I Love You China", which was the third time that the 45-year-old had appeared on the Spring Festival Gala stage.
Return to the Spring Festival Gala "My heart beat faster to more than a hundred, and I most want to express 'I love you China'"
Reporter: When the melody of "I Love You China" sounds, you dance the dance you are best at.
Tan Yuanyuan: Very excited. Every time the orgasm came up, my heartbeat seemed to accelerate to more than a hundred. I don't know why, it may be that this kind of stage gives me a different aura, I have high requirements for myself, I do not allow a little mistake, I hope to bring my dance style, beauty to all the audiences in the country and even the world.
Reporter: What do you most want to express?
Tan Yuanyuan: I love you China. I was trained in China, and later I went abroad and worked the world stage for so many years, and now I can return to my motherland to dedicate my dance to our country, which is my honor.
In the Spring Festival Gala in 1994, Tan Yuanyuan first appeared on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala, and collaborated with violinist Lu Siqing and pianist Kong Xiangdong on a "Homesick Song". In the Spring Festival Gala of 2006, Tan Yuanyuan appeared on the spring festival gala stage for the second time, and joined hands with Yang Liping and Liu Yan to perform the highlight dance program "Three Friends of the Cold Year". This year, it is Tan Yuanyuan's third time on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala. Her three Spring Festival Gala experiences span 27 years, but each performance is related to the emotional and Chinese cultural themes of China.
Tan Yuanyuan: I don't know why, when I returned to the Spring Festival Gala stage, I felt that it was the feeling of going home. I've always felt this way, and I've always been homesick. I'm not a very good at words, and I don't know how to describe the feeling on stage, but I'm very excited, very happy.
Coin Toss Ballet Superstars Add Eastern Charm to Western ballet
Tan Yuanyuan was born in Shanghai in 1976 and studied dance at the Children's Palace as a child. The father hopes that Tan Yuanyuan will become a doctor in the future, and the mother is bent on letting her daughter realize her dream of dancing. The family quarreled and had to decide by tossing a coin. Perhaps it was the arrangement of fate that the coin tossed out gave Tan Yuanyuan a side of learning to dance. At the age of 11, Tan Yuanyuan was admitted to the Shanghai Ballet School, although he was a year later than others, but with his talent and intelligence, superior physical conditions, the teaching of famous teachers, extraordinary self-discipline and hard work, Tan Yuanyuan emerged in the art world of ballet early. In 1995, at the age of 18, Tan Yuanyuan became the youngest soloist of the San Francisco Ballet, one of the world's top ballet companies. Three years later, she became the youngest lead actor in the troupe's history.
Tan Yuanyuan: When I was fifteen or sixteen years old, I began to represent the country in international ballet competitions and achieved some good results, and my most memorable thing is that when I got the gold medal, they said that it was Tan Yuanyuan of China who won the gold medal. This memory in my mind is like what happened yesterday. Ten years of work offstage, one minute on stage, I have worked hard to win glory for the country and gain international recognition by relying on the foreign art of ballet.
After becoming the principal dancer of the San Francisco Ballet, Tan Yuanyuan performed hundreds of performances every year, and played the heroine of almost all the company's plays. From the traditional and classical "Swan Lake", "Sleeping Beauty", "Romeo and Juliet", to the modern and even oriental "New Little Mermaid", "Bird of Fire", "Queqiao" and so on. Among them, "Queqiao" is jointly created by artists from four countries, China, the United States, Japan and Russia, which is the first time to put Chinese folklore on the ballet stage, so that the world audience can appreciate the charm brought by the fusion of Eastern and Western art.
Reporter: When you stand on a foreign stage, a foreign screenwriter writes a Chinese ballet, and you play the protagonist, the meaning is different at that time.
Tan Yuanyuan: Art is all connected, they have their own unique labels, but after tearing off the labels, these arts are all common. On stage, I was a good dancer like them. In art, everyone is very tolerant, and looking at the effect on the stage, this is the most important thing.
As the principal of the San Francisco Ballet for 25 consecutive years, London dance critics called Tan Yuanyuan "the biggest jewel in the crown of the old ballet"; Tan Yuanyuan was the only Chinese among the 101 dance stars of the 20th century by Japan's authoritative Dance magazine; and in 2004, Tan Yuanyuan was named "Asian Hero" and appeared on the cover of Time.
"Ballet is my faith and I will walk with her for the rest of my life"
After participating in the Spring Festival Gala of the Year of the Ox, on February 14, the third day of the Chinese New Year, Tan Yuanyuan spent his 45th birthday.
Tan Yuanyuan: A dancer, the golden age may be between the ages of 28 and 35, after which there may be a decline in physical strength. This is the schedule given by God, if you want to extend the life of your art, you must rely on the work, rely on your persistence, rely on your love for art. 45 years old is a big hurdle for dancers, how about their career in the future? How long is your stage career? What are the future plans? These are all things to think about.
Reporter: Someone once said that when a ballet dancer is constantly rotating, the heart must lock on a target to keep turning, otherwise it will fall, how do you understand this sentence?
Tan Yuanyuan: You have to have a main heart bone, a belief, ballet is my belief, with this main heart bone I will not be chaotic, will definitely rotate, will stick to it.
You once said that ballet is your way of life.
Tan Yuanyuan: Yes, I gave up ballet, I don't know what to do, so many years of ballet accompanied me around, although day after day, year after year of training is very boring, and there is a painful companionship, but this is also experience. I am not afraid of suffering, I am not afraid of tiredness, I am not afraid of annoyance, I am not afraid of boredom. I feel like I'm going to go with ballet for the rest of my life.
"Training for an hour and a half a day, life is a process of constantly correcting yourself"
The use of ballet as a way of life means the brilliance and beauty of people, but also means the unknown hardships and efforts. Even if he is busy, Tan Yuanyuan still insists on training for more than an hour and a half every day.
Tan Yuanyuan: My schedule is arranged by jumping ballet first, first arranging the time for dancing ballet, and then filling in other things. One day without practicing yourself knows, two days without practicing the teacher knows, three days without practicing the audience knows, and when you go on stage again, your feet will shake. I hadn't practiced for almost a month since I was injured, and when I started practicing again, I said who am I?
In addition to relying on daily perseverance in training, 45-year-old Tan Yuanyuan is still constantly revising himself and striving to innovate.
Tan Yuanyuan: In the past, I didn't like to look back at my own videos, and every time I watched it, I would find something wrong, the curvature of this foot had not yet reached the top, and this action was not stretched enough. But now I feel that I must look back, I have to make up for the shortcomings. For me, ballet cannot be perfect. I must practice more, I must improve myself, and I must try to improve myself.
Reporter: What do you think is the best?
Tan Yuanyuan: Empty your whole body and mind, for example, I play the Little Mermaid, I empty myself, I am the Little Mermaid, I am not Tan Yuanyuan, this is the feeling.