A sweet, silent pas de deux

Below and above: Jiang Keyu and her husband Romuald Abbe express themselves in the way they know best. Photos provided to China Daily

Jiang Keyu and Romuald Abbe met in dance class and decided to get their act together

The cultures of China and Africa may seem very different, but Jiang Keyu and Romuald Abbe reckon that in some respects they are very similar.

They point to some of the moves in taichi, which Jiang says can be found in the folk dances of Cameroon, and to the stomping dance routines of some African people, which are very similar to those of some Chinese ethnic groups.

Jiang and her husband Abbe are choreographers and dancers, and just as they see similar threads running through Chinese and African culture, they say that for them dance is a common language that has brought them close together.

The couple took part in cultural events staged as part of the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 and were back in the capital last month to take part in the Fete de la Francophonie en Chine (festival in China of French-speaking countries), during which, with dozens of others from many countries, they performed.

Jiang graduated from Beijing Dance Academy after studying modern dance choreography 10 years ago when she was 23. She was then offered the chance to help Cameroon build up its National Dance Group and train dancers for it, a project of China's Ministry of Culture.

Cameroon wanted Chinese teachers to reinforce its dance culture, and modern dancing, rather than classic or folk dancing, seemed like the best choice, she says.

"A national dance group needs to be international in terms of its education and training," Jiang says. "Modern dance does not represent any country or culture; it represents modern people."

The chance to go to Africa excited her, she says, and she adapted to her new life quickly. She and a colleague, another Chinese dancer, spent three months scouting talent and then started giving lessons. A couple of months later she met Abbe, and he turned out to be a star student.

Nine years on, Jiang still remembers first seeing him.

"He was tall, wearing a blue tracksuit and a red hat. We prepared a piece of classical violin music and he danced to it in a hip hop way. I realized he was a dance genius."

But Abbe, who had been learning hip hop for about six years and who with his team Black Star had won many dance competitions, wondered what the two women could teach him given that they did not know hip hop.

Jiang and Abbe now consider that the experience opened their eyes to new possibilities.

"Our training is now really open, and I'm able to get in touch with more varied and complicated things, such as classical ballet," Abbe says.

Jiang says that one of the things that inspired her most was the openness of Africa's culture.

"Cameroon's culture is very open. People are very enthusiastic. They are very easygoing and can sing and dance as long as there is music. They're very free; it's their personality. That experience has been very important for me creatively."

Jiang says that when she was at college, teachers would encourage students to imitate the style of well-known dancers. But she did not want to convey that notion in her teaching in Africa.

"I used to think that if I was like my teacher that would be great, but then I realized you need to encourage students to find themselves and their own characteristics.

"So in my first class I encouraged students to do improvisational dance and to express themselves, which is very spontaneous."

Jiang's one-year contract in Cameroon stretched out to four years, and she and Abbe gradually became closer. In 2008, she returned to China after the project concluded and became a dance teacher. That year, Abbe opened a dance company and eventually decided to go France to pursue his career.

After Abbe visited China and proposed to her in 2012, they were married in Beijing. Jiang says that even now they find it difficult communicating using spoken language, which can often be a headache. But the love of dance holds them together.

"We are together because we love each other and we love dance," Jiang says. "I have never thought about cars, houses or any other material things."

In 2012 they founded the Abbe Dance Company in Beijing, which aims to introduce a mixed style of dancing to people. The two bring together dancers from around the world for dance projects, and the pair travel and perform in China, Africa and Europe.

Abbe says one of his main interests is people, and when he is in China he likes to go to places where people are drinking and chatting, and draw creative inspiration.

"To me most of the time creativity is a question. I like to question people, sometimes just letting the body express what I want to say. Every time I ask questions, I have the opportunity of discovering a new direction, a new philosophy about the body and a new kind of body language. It's an opportunity to explore things."

In the first performance in the Fete de la Francophonie en Chine the pair encouraged dancers, who were from various countries and spoke different languages, to do improvisational dance and to "seek themselves". They had a theme in mind, but did not tell the dancers what it was, and guided them using body language.

"I want the dancer to think about the past, the present and the future," Abbe says. "What you have, what you are and what you want. My first tip was for them to free themselves, without making any judgment, just to watch what they had to do."

Abbe says African dance emphasizes connection with the ground. All the power comes down to the ground, and it is on that the dance moves are based. He has found many similarities in learning Chinese arts such as taichi and kung fu, he says.

"When I first came across Chinese culture, I could also see a relationship between our culture and Chinese culture. Chinese art forms such as taichi and kung fu are from the ground. They draw power from the ground and rise, and you keep hold of your relationship with the ground. Many dances in China go down to the ground. The two cultures are very close."

As Abbe tries to build his connections with China, Jiang is deepening hers with Africa. In her work as a dance teacher in a garment company she teaches mainly African dances tailored for Chinese.

"Chinese students are very interested in exotic African dancing, but they cannot deal with its strong power and rhythm, so I have to make changes accordingly."

chenyingqun@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 05/23/2014 page29)