Planning: Fang Yu Text: Sun Jie Photography: Sun Ruixiang
As the chief actor of the San Francisco Ballet of the three major ballets in the United States, the 56th Annual Lifetime Achievement Award of the United States, the best actress of the National Dance Award in the United Kingdom, the "Asian Hero" who appeared on the cover of Time magazine, the name of Tan Yuanyuan is written with glory and light. After 20 years of engaging in the world's most beautiful and cruel profession, this slender and beautiful Shanghai woman still shines in the indelible oriental light in Western art.
"Ballet is my favorite." She whispered to us. It is hard to imagine that such a gentle woman would engage in such a profession that contains tears, pain and torture, but she would only present the light, beauty and touching artistic sense to everyone. If you didn’t cherish this road, no one could stick to it.
20 years, commemorating the infinite
spent 20 years with the San Francisco Ballet. What Tan Yuanyuan didn't expect was that she would return to China with the dance troupe and give a special performance for her 20-year career. On the evening of October 21, she will perform "Tan Yuanyuan's 20th Anniversary Special Performance" at the National Grand Theater, performing 4 repertoires on stage in one breath. At that moment, all the light will shine on her body and gently rotate on the toes that seem to express their infinite feelings.
Tan Yuanyuan once said, "Someone has been asking me, if there is a next life, will you still dance? No, I will never dance again!" But looking back on the past, it was the love of ballet that brought her to the present, surpassing national borders and age, and creating the most miracle of a ballet dancer. "I will not regret it, and the spinning toes never stop."
75 members of the San Francisco Ballet came to China from a thousand miles to the special performance tailored for Tan Yuanyuan, which is a commemoration and a silent affirmation of her persistent and tenacious spirit.
20 years ago, a Shanghai girl who started dancing ballet at the age of 11 almost gave up because her parents disagree. "My father hopes that I will become a doctor or an engineer, and my mother likes dancing very much. This is her dream." In the end, the talented Tan Yuanyuan made a coin change his destiny. Unable to persuade the other party’s parents to decide to throw a coin, and the mother won. But after studying at Shanghai Dance School for a year late, she still saw a big gap in herself. "I have a bad foundation and feel inferior. I want to drop out of school several times. It is because my mother has been supporting and motivating." Even if the traditional old-school father believes that you should come back and study hard, and my mother always says, "No, you can hold on." When I was a girl, Tan Yuanyuan couldn't remember how many times she cried for ballet, and how many times her mother sat in the practice room to watch her training. "Later, I gradually followed the pace of my classmates."
35, Tan Yuanyuan thought about retirement. However, now she is also surprised to find that she has broken many boundaries, such as the age of a ballerina. "I found that I could dance better and better, and have more ideas to express it more fully. If it really comes to the day when I should exit, my body will definitely give me a signal."
The top glory of the pyramid
What we see is always a beautiful and elegant ballerina like a swan, the most beautiful appearance on the stage, dazzling, as if the brightest light in the darkness. Below that cannot be seen is Tan Yuanyuan’s persistence for many years.
For so many years, she has been resting for 3 weeks except for being injured. She is full of time and is constantly practicing and improving. Five years ago, she suffered a serious injury. When she was acting in " Giselle ", she was dislocated due to her movements. "That time almost almost terminated my dance career. Later, it was cured with perseverance and comprehensive traditional Chinese medicine therapy." The doctor advised her that you should have minimally invasive surgery, but after learning that the surgery will have sequelae, and the chance of recovery is only 30%. It will take two years to recover, she resolutely decided not to take the surgery. What kind of efforts does a swan with wings make to return to the stage and shine again? Tan Yuanyuan just smiled, "I am still on the stage now. I am very lucky to be able to overcome this difficulty.
The appearance of ballet is the most beautiful and moving art, and every serious ballet dancer will have a pair of terrible feet, and Tan Yuanyuan is even more so. "The most basic and common one is that the skin is worn and blisters, and you still have to wear toe shoes to practice. Repeat again and again, and then the skin is broken and bleeding. The feet have varying degrees of pain, ankle bones, Achilles tendons, toes deformed, and thumb valgus... So I can't wear beautiful open-toed sandals, nor can I apply nails oil that girls like, and do not leave long nails because the nails and shoes rub. Once I wear shoes, the nails will fall off."
"I fight against the pain every day, and I'm used to it. My pain rate is very high." She described lightly that once, she had kidney stones , and the pain index of kidney stones was equivalent to having a baby, and she actually endured for 3 days before going to the hospital! Ballet is an art that is extremely beautiful and cruel. Many people can understand it but cannot give it. "It is full of extreme beauty. I think it is really like climbing to the top of a pyramid. Only in that way can it bloom the most beautiful brilliance."
The body and soul are closest to
18 years old and has won many ballet awards internationally. Tan Yuanyuan, who is studying at the German Ballet Academy, received an invitation letter from the San Francisco Ballet in the United States. Stubbornness and talent made her make the most independent and risky decision in her life this time: give up Germany's rich future that follows the steps and go to San Francisco!
Entering the group, she became a solo dancer, "It's equivalent to dancing two levels in a row. Usually, after graduating at the age of 18 or 19, she is an apprentice first, then an group dancer actor, and then a solo dancer," she sensitively sensed the dissatisfied eyes around her. The tall and slender American girl looked at her coldly, "They seem to be saying, why are you?" The difficulty to overcome has become not only language, alienation from a foreign land, but also the bad intentions from around her. In order to save money, she took the bus to Chinatown to call her mother to talk to her, wrote dense fax letters from home, looked at the ballet tapes over and over, and practiced over and over again.
Finally, she caught the opportunity. A major actor in the troupe broke his finger and could not perform the next day's duo dance . "The leader asked if you could go up for her. I nodded there for tomorrow night's performance." The leader gave Tan Yuanyuan a strap and hurriedly left. After watching it, she was "almost scared to death" because it was a very fast duo dance that she had never been exposed to, and there was a group dance behind it. In 30 minutes, the accompaniment music was the violin concerto of George Balanchin . "It's very difficult to master, and the rhythm and notes are counted." After using it all night, Tan Yuanyuan wrote down his own dance steps.
The next day, just before she walked onto the stage, in the backstage, Tan Yuanyuan saw that other girls in the group changed into costumes for other plays, "If I can't play this show, the whole show will have to be changed. She just looked at me, I will never forget this scene, I said I can!" As a result, Tan Yuanyuan miraculously danced down, and the next year, she became the chief of the San Francisco Ballet.
"My stubbornness is coming. Others think I can't do it, but I insist on doing it. The opportunity is not given to you by others, but you created it yourself." She said.
20 years later, she was deeply immersed in ballet and still felt the way the body and soul are closest to her. "Dance is the most primitive and direct. Before the words appear, it is a way for people to communicate. When expressing emotions in body language, I can enjoy a kind of fun that is not my own, enlarge, exaggerate, and impress the audience. This is art." Can the 3,000 audiences in a theater feel the rhythm of the same frequency, whether in the front or back rows? As she said, a small flame burned in her eyes, “There is endless fun."
Give ballet Chinese elements
"If you have a daughter in the future, will she be allowed to work on the same path as you? "
Tan Yuanyuan pondered, "You can be used as a training for beautiful body. Don't be a professional ballet dancer unless you are very talented, have a good teacher, have a good environment, and you love it very much. None of these can be removed. "
People say that there may be only one Tan Yuanyuan in China. There are many girls who like ballet, but few who persist. Perhaps Tan Yuanyuan can achieve such achievements in the international community. Just like what she said, "Encompetent" her achievements are not accidental, as brilliant as stars, and also have a kind of lonely beauty.
"Most ballets are tragic, and the tragedy is more touching. "Tan Yuanyuan admitted. The May Day of her favorite "Giselle" and " Little Mermaid " are not the case. "Sometimes I cry unsatisfiedly on stage, and the audience also cried, which is extremely and very poignant. "
There are more than 40 weeks of performances a year, 100 shows every year, which is the artistic life of Tan Yuanyuan now. She danced many classical ballet , from "Swan Lake", "Othello", "Sleeping Beauty" to " Romeo and Juliet ", "Giselle", " Nutcracker ", and also skipped the "Magpie Bridge", which combines Chinese and Western styles. She also performed "Time Travel-The Dance of Three Women" with Taiwanese dancer Xu Fangyi and American Ashley Baldor. Speaking of ballet, she is in peace The professional and persistent man said, "For example, "Swan Lake" has a puffy skirt, which has limitations on the display of the limbs. In modern ballet, you can be very close to your dance partner, and his lifting can be done to a large extent. Sometimes you can wear soft shoes, sometimes you go on stage barefoot..."
If you have any wishes, it is to gather the energy and strength over the years to add some oriental Chinese elements to the world art of ballet. "My teacher's generation includes "Red Detachment of Women" and "White-Haired Girl". I want my generation to have their own classic plays. Possibly collaborate with world-class young directors and top musicians on the national and world stage. This is my idea, or it can be said to be a small dream. It has not begun yet. If it begins, I will notify you! "She said, a sweet smile blooming, with a shy love feeling like a little girl.
At that moment, I thought that ballet might be Tan Yuanyuan's lifelong lover.
Tan Yuanyuan Q&A:
Q: I have been the chief actor of the San Francisco Ballet for 20 years. What is the biggest regret?
A: Flying around, there is no time to calm down. Too career-oriented, there are many things that girls yearn for. There is something to do, such as falling in love, if a friend comes out to chat, I will say no, there will be a performance tomorrow, and I have to sleep. I can’t go shopping for too long. When I travel after the seasonal performance, the first thing I do when I arrive at my destination is where to find a practice room or a gym. All my life revolves around ballet, and this habit may not change when I get old.
Question: You have said before that you gave up a happy life and gave up a stable and comfortable job. What did you get by giving up these?
Answer: Artist Respect I yearn for. Ballet is not a popular art, it is more beautiful, but because people who know it will respect it very much. When talking about ballet dancers abroad, everyone says it is very hard and invisibly respect it. This is a kind of atmosphere for people who love art. So I have also been a little relieved over the years. After the performance, many people came to me and said it was a great performance. Some viewers who had just finished the performance said, where did I come from to fly over to watch your performance! In the past, a fan even made a special trip from Beijing to Shenzhen, and was given to me. As I know, I feel that this is very considerate and warm.
Question: What kind of relationship do you want him to have with you in the future?
Answer: You can share your best friend, a friend who can talk about everything, especially when you have troubles. Maybe it won’t help, but spiritual support and understanding are very important.
Question: Do you hope he is an artistic person?
Answer: You may not be an artist.Hopefully we can have a consensus. I don’t necessarily understand art very much, but at least I have to appreciate it. I am sure to appreciate it (laugh). That's all about choosing a mate.
Q: What is your specialty?
Answer: Mapo tofu. My tofu is delicious. Various scrambled eggs are also very good. For example, if the scallops are broken, they are fried in the eggs, and then some small peas are added.
Question: Are there any preferred types and styles of clothing?
Answer: Some Chinese styles should be comfortable and simple. Dio, CUCCI is more interested in the style of EmporioArmani, I have several jackets from his house, and the cut is good. There is also a brand I like, which has a store on Fifth Avenue in New York, which is a very Chinese design, but it also has a modern feel in classical style. When I go out for a date, I wear high heels, and usually flat shoes and bean shoes.
