Qiao Yu: I love dance, it is a lifelong partner

On the morning of August 28, at the foot of the city wall of Gongji Gate at the north end of Xiaobeimen Street in Taiyuan City, a group of dancers dressed in bright costumes and wearing Xinjiang hats were practicing dance moves, sometimes raising their eyebrows, sometimes shaking their heads and moving their necks, attracting many citizens to stop and watch. After a while, a man dressed in casual clothes and wearing a Xinjiang hat hurried towards the dance team. Before reaching the foot of the wall of the Arch Gate, someone came up and asked: "Old Joe, I haven't come for three or four days, I'll give you a number of wow, from the 23rd to the 27th, it's been five days, right?" "Why did you go?" I like to watch you dance, but I can't see you every day, so I have to take a few videos for you today..."

Old Qiao is called Qiao Yu, a Taiyuan native, who has become acquainted with dance for work reasons, and has continuously learned more than ten kinds of dances such as international dance, ballroom dance, ethnic dance, and ghost step dance for thirty years. Because of his love, he often danced with everyone in Longtan Park near home or at the foot of the wall of the Arch Gate of Xiaobeimen Street in his spare time, and he also gained a lot of "iron fans" who liked him.

On the morning of August 28, a reporter from Shanxi Evening News met Qiao Yu.

In the face of other people's consultation, it is self-evident

"Everybody's really winning the prize!" I just danced and exercised, cultivated my emotions, and there were more people who danced well and professionally than me. Speaking of everyone's evaluation of him, Qiao Yu said modestly. Seeing that the team members had already danced the Xinjiang dance in a neat formation, Qiao Yu put on his dance "line head", an embroidered sequin short-sleeved vest, stood at the end of the line, and danced with everyone.

With his head held high, his chest straight, his waist up, his arms swinging, and with a set of dance movements like clouds and water, Qiao Yu seemed to have changed into a person. Accompanied by bright-paced music, Qiao Yu clapped his hands and fingers and invited his female companions to dance together. Soon, the female companion stepped forward with light dance steps, and the tacit understanding between the two instantly caused everyone to clap their hands and applaud. And in the crowd, from time to time, there was a praise of "iron powder": "I love to watch Old Joe dance, the atmosphere is good for the eyes!" ”

At the beginning of the second dance, Qiao Yu felt that it was very suitable for the three-step dance, so he invited a lady to dance the waltz three-step dance on the spot. Follow the slow and elegant rhythm of the three-step dance: spinning, forward, backward... Through the tacit cooperation with the dance partners, they showed the romantic elegance of the three-step dance to the fullest. At this time, the people around them also gave a heartfelt thumbs up and praised: "Very stylish!" ”

At the end of the dance, onlookers walked up to Qiao Yu and asked him for the essentials of the dance. In the face of everyone's questions about dance, Qiao Yu also knows everything and says everything.

I became acquainted with dance because of my work

In the early 1980s, Qiao Yu worked as a scout in an independent anti-aircraft artillery regiment in Tianjin, returned to his hometown of Taiyuan after changing careers, and was assigned to the taiyuan municipal organs and institutions to engage in news and propaganda work, and served as a member of the propaganda committee of the unit's Youth League Committee, mainly responsible for the unit's propaganda and literary and artistic organization and planning work.

The sudden change in life made Qiao Yu a little uncomfortable, but the three years of military life also created Qiao Yu's habit of not being alarmed and not in danger. "Suddenly from 'Wusheng' to 'Hua Dan', the change is a little bigger, but fortunately, the family's artistic genes are strong, my father and eldest brother are well-known artists, I have more or less dipped in the family's genetics, and I usually learn things that are related to art relatively quickly." This is also the beginning of a real connection with dance. ”

Through multi-party understanding and introduction by friends, Qiao Yu received several formal ballroom dance trainings, and the level of dance skills has been greatly improved.

Qiao Yu told the Shanxi Evening News reporter that in the late 1980s, the national standard dance was all over China. "As soon as the provincial city issued the training notice of the national standard ballroom dance, I signed up, and I thought the name was very fresh. Now that I think about it, I should belong to the earlier batch of people in Taiyuan City who came into contact with the national standard ballroom dance. ”

After half a year of study, Qiao Yu not only carried out the propaganda work of the unit with great sound, but also was invited by foreign units many times in literature and art, "That year, I just learned to dance, and I was pulled by the leaders of the Railway Bureau to 'learn now and sell now'. They wanted to participate in a collective dance competition at the headquarters of the Beijing Railway Locomotive Section, so I choreographed what I learned into a collective dance, and I didn't expect to win the second prize in Beijing. It was said that it was the first award their unit had won in many years, and it was quite proud to think about it now. ”

Design your own dance costumes

Because of his own love and everyone's recognition, Qiao Yu can be described as unstoppable to dance, as long as he hears where there is a dance that he can't do or a new dance he hasn't seen, he will immediately sign up to learn.

"In 2018, there was a dance called 'ghost step dance' popular among young people, when I was in my fifties, but looking at the dazzling dance movements, I was still moved, and I thought I had to learn it!" Finally, Qiao Yu entered the "Ghost Step Dance" learning training class as he wished. However, the moment he entered the door, Qiao Yu was dumbfounded: "The class is full of young dolls, and my age is the oldest!" But Qiao Yu, with the strength of not accepting defeat, with the spirit of diligence and hard work, not only learned the "ghost step dance", but also learned faster and better than some young students.

In the second half of 2020, due to the epidemic, the park and the training center have stopped all kinds of training activities, and Qiao Yu, who loves dancing, although sitting at home, cannot stay idle, and he teaches himself to dance Xinjiang dance through online videos. After continuous imitation and learning, Qiao Yu's Xinjiang dance was unanimously recognized by everyone.

Qiao Yu also combined his expertise in art design to design affordable, breathable, soft and comfortable Xinjiang hats and clothes. Speaking of his innovative small objects, Qiao Yu is like a number of family treasures: "You see this hat, I made the same style of three different patterns and colors. The raw material of the hat is very simple, that is, to go to the small commodity city to buy a variety of decorative strips, and then cut and sew according to the drawings I designed, beautiful and comfortable, the key is still very cheap, the cost is less than 20 yuan ..."

Qiao Yu also took out a rather distinctive and improved version of the Xinjiang horse clip, and the eye-catching gold thread outlined a beautiful pattern with exotic style. If you look closely, it's actually a modified jacket and horse clip. Qiao Yu introduced the clothes he designed, and carefully folded them into a bag.

When it comes to why he makes dance costumes, Qiao Yu thinks that maybe it is the reason for "loving house and Wu". "Art is all connected. I love dancing, it is my lifelong partner, so I am willing to try everything related to dance, even if it is difficult, I will insist on doing it well! Qiao Yu said.

Shanxi Evening News reporter Li Ting

(Editor-in-charge: Wen Wen)