Toeing a joyful line

International ballet teachers bring a new spirit of dance to young and old students in Beijing this summer

Ten-year-old Su Yingjun remembers the first time she could spin her body 360 degrees - staring straight ahead at the point where she started and feeling "like a superstar".

"When you swirl, you feel like the wind is coming to your face," her ballet teacher says - memorable words the girl would repeat after class. "I did feel what the teacher said," she told her mother, "and I felt like a real ballerina".

In late July, Su took a weeklong ballet class given by teachers from the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. One of the world's leading dance examinations boards, the ISTD formed in 1904 and made its China debut in Beijing this year with a two-week dance school.

Besides ballet, the London-based organization offers courses covering six dance genres, from Latin American and street dance to modern theater and jazz. More than 150 students, including professional dancers and amateurs, adults and children, took part in the summer school.

For Su's mother, Gao Ying, traveling all the way from their home in Tianjin to Beijing to take the ballet class was worthwhile.

"The teachers' description about each movement is so vivid. It is neither about how straight your back is nor how high you can jump. It's about the enjoyment you have from dancing," says Gao, who took the adult ballet classes offered at the same time her daughter was in sessions for youth.

The 41-year-old mother, who is a human-resources manager, notes that unlike slim girls who typically pursue ballet, her daughter is chubby. "I am glad to see that she is confident and happy while dancing," says Gao. "We've shared ballet classes and progressed together, which is a beautiful memory for both of us."

Gao has been taking her daughter to ballet classes for nearly two years. She applied for the ISTD's summer courses in Beijing as soon as she read the announcement online. She knew the reputation of the London Ballet Society and wants her daughter to have a different experience in dance.

Wang Mingzhu, a 55-year-old ballet teacher who came from Shanghai for the program, agrees.

"In China, ballet education has a solid foundation from Russia," she says, because of the two countries' historic ties. "ISTD belongs to another school with a different approach."

Wang has taught ballet for 20 years, but says she was excited to learn new skills as well as teaching methods in the Britain-based program.

"The number of children who take dancing as their art education has increased drastically in China during the past few years," says Vivienne Saxton, ISTD ballet fellow and examiner. "We've observed that Chinese students focus on the accuracy of dancing techniques while ignoring their personal emotions. Through our teaching, we want the students to develop their personal interpretations and dance expression."

That kind of need is what brought ISTD to China, according to its chairman, Christopher Bannerman, who has had a long career as a dancer and choreographer.

"We have been planning this summer school in Beijing for a long time. I am happy to take ISTD to China on the occasion of its 110-year-old birthday," says Bannerman. "We have more than 7,500 members in over 75 countries around the world. We hope China will become our next member."

From ballet to ballroom, the organization covers the full spectrum of dance genres and has provided training for teachers and examiners.

Thanks to his father, who researches Chinese philosophy, Bannerman has been interested in China since childhood and he learned Chinese in Beijing a year ago.

"I've watched some Chinese folk-dance performances in Beijing, and I am thinking about introducing Chinese folk dance to ISTD and having more people in the world learn it," he says. "We believe that dance is a universal language and it has the power to break down the barriers of language and culture."

As an educational charity, ISTD offered a scholarship for a Chinese student, Zhang Bozhi, for the summer program.

During the past three years, the 20-year-old Zhang, who comes from Xi'an, Shaanxi province, and is studying dance at Beijing Normal University, has been giving ballet classes to migrant children near Changping district in Beijing. Before taking part in the ballet classes of ISTD, Zhang had just returned from Daliangshan Mountain, Sichuan province, after teaching a 15-day ballet class for students of local Yi ethnic group there.

"Everyone should have access to dance. That is one of the core values of ISTD, and I cannot agree more," she says. "I hope more people will find happiness from dancing."

chennan@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 08/22/2014 page28)