Ballerina Zhu Yan brings a world of experience to her role in The Peony Pavilion

By Eugenia Lo
Photography by Gary Mak
Translation by Ben sin

Behind the curtain of the Hong Kong Cultural Center, Zhu Yan, the prima ballerina for the national Ballet of China (nBC), is preparing for a performance of the Peony Pavilion. Even though she has yet to put on her stage costume, the charismatic performer still exudes grace and elegance.

The roaring success of nBC’s The Peony Pavilion in Macau last year paved the way for its appearance at the Hong Kong arts Festival. “We had always hoped to continue performing Chinese pieces after Raise the Red Lantern, hence we selected The Peony Pavilion,” says Zhu.

Written by Tang Xianzu during the Ming Dynasty, The Peony Pavilion is the story of a teenage girl named Du Liniang who dreams of love with a scholar named Liu Mengmei. after waking up from the dream, she’s so lovesick that she dies. The story ends with Du in ghost form returning to reunite with Liu.

To fully prepare, Zhu not only studied the original work but also the opera version. “The movements of ballet are more striking, which is different from the opera,” she says. “The dancers and choreographer went through a process of trial and error to successfully implement the abstract nature of the story and the character’s feelings into dance steps.” in order to show the elegance of each character while maintaining the spirit of the opera, nBC invited renowned Japanese costume designer Emi Wada to design the costumes. “The costumes have a lot of material,” says Zhu. “When we were training, we would often step on the clothing by mistake. They were also too slippery for partners dancing. so we altered some dance moves while Ms Wada also made changes to the outfits.” in addition to performing for the nBC, Zhu has furthered her experience with guest lead performances for many of the world’s foremost ballet troupes. in 1999, she was invited by the Royal swedish Ballet to perform the lead role in La sylphide, while in June of 2002 she performed in swan Lake for the Royal new Zealand Ballet. Then in 2005 she would play a role in swan Lake again, only this time for the The Royal Danish Ballet. “My stage time was short and being alone in a foreign country made me feel helpless at times, but luckily the dancers i worked with were all very kind,” she says. “also, the improvised practice style overseas is more suitable for experienced dancers [like me] with strong foundations. This is in total contrast to the meticulous nature of Chinese-style practice.”

Zhu hopes her many ballet awards, including the ‘Top Ten Outstanding Chinese Youth of the Year’ award in 2008 can help raise awareness for ballet in China. “Most Chinese kids, like me, were forced to learn dance. i was sent off to a dancing school at a young age,” says Zhu. “My hope is for Chinese children to want to learn dancing on their own.”

However tough they were, Zhu treasures her childhood memories. “There was a teacher who was very strict, she wouldn’t be satisfied until her students danced until they were dripped in sweat,” she recalls. “But i don’t perspire easily, no matter how hard i dance. so the teacher thought i was being lazy and kicked me out of the class.”

Those hardships have continued on into her professional life, with Zhu admitting that many sacrifices have to be made to forge a career as a dancer. Presented with a programme from nBC’s 2002 Hong Kong arts Festival performance of Raise the Red Lantern, Zhu lets out a disappointed sigh when turning to the dancer introduction page. “There are many dancers in this booklet that have left nBC, with some having stopped dancing altogether,” she says. Yet despite the sacrifices, Zhu plans to carry on dancing for the foreseeable future, while also branching out in to choreography – a surefire way of prolonging the “fantastic memories and feelings” dancing has given her.