Troupe putting its best foot forward

Nederlands Dans Theater performs at Beijing festival

Editor's Note: A variety of cultural activities will be held during the APEC meetings in Beijing, providing delegates with ideal opportunities to relax. China Daily reporter Chen Nan takes a look at a dance company and a string quartet, just two of the attractions on offer.

For modern dance lovers, the Nederlands Dans Theater is synonymous with the best contemporary dance in the world.

With three companies under its name - the NDT 1, which gathers the top dancers of the NDT; the NDT 2, which offers a platform for young dancing talent; and the NDT 3, for dancers older than 40 - the troupe has created an international reputation for its pioneering exploration in techniques of dance and creative choreography.

At the ongoing Dance Festival at the National Center for the Performing Arts, 28 dancers from the NDT 1 performed in Beijing on Friday and will perform again on Saturday.

In 2008, the NDT 1 and 2 performed at the NCPA in May and October, with works by the NDT's longtime artistic director and choreographer, Jiri Kylian.

The 2014 performances comprise five works, including Hello Earth by choreographer Marco Goecke and Softly as I Leave You and Stop Motion, both choreographed by two of the company's resident choreography partners, Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon.

Medhi Walerski, an NDT 1 dancer and choreographer, will perform one of his works, Chamber.

Created in 2013, Chamber was commissioned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Igor Stravinsky's composition The Rite of Spring, choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky.

After arriving from Paris and joining the NDT 2 in 2001, Walerski listened to Stravinsky's music as he began to create the work. He also read diaries of dancer-choreographer Nijinsky and other books to seek inspiration.

With the contrast of silence and noise, chaos and order, Chamber, a 30-minute work featuring nine dancers, was premiered on Oct 4, 2012, at Lucent Danstheater in The Hague, Netherlands, where the NDT is based.

"The work saw me leap from being a dancer to a choreographer," Walerski said.

Walerski, who began studying dance as a child, recalls that he liked improvising dance at home. Now a choreographer and dancer with NDT 1, Walerski credits the Dutch dance troupe with helping young dancers discover and polish their choreographic ability.

Two Chinese dancers - Lou Menghan and Wang Jianhui - will appear with NDT 1 at the NCPA to perform in Chamber, Solo Echo and Stop Motion.

Lou, 32, who joined the NDT 2 in 2007 and was promoted to the NDT 1 in 2009, danced with NDT 2 in Beijing in 2008.

He was attracted by the idea of launching the NDT, when it was founded in 1959 by Benjamin Harkarvy, Aart Verstegen and Carel Birnie along with a group of 18 members of the Dutch National Ballet, aiming to break away from the traditional ballet system.

"When I was in the NDT 2, I danced like crazy and absorbed like a sponge, which opened my vision about dancing and changed my way of making moves," Lou said.

Wang Jianhui, 24, who joined the NDT 2 in 2010 and then the NDT 1 in 2013, said: "I felt I had grown up and become an adult with the NDT. The experience with the company was challenging and rewarding."

Contract the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/08/2014 page7)