Seeking authenticity in a professional world: personal narratives on collaborating with amateurs in contemporary Chinese choreographic practices

Abstract

By analysing personal narratives of nine Chinese choreographers, this study aims to investigate the meanings of collaborating with amateurs in choreographic practices as an aesthetic strategy to realize authenticity. The key question driving this research is: How might collaborating with amateurs serve as a strategy for nine Chinese choreographers to realize their choreographic pursuit towards authenticity? The study concludes that meanings nine Chinese choreographers make of collaborating with amateurs can be understood from the notion of ‘real people’, and this notion consequently signifies the untrained state of the body in context of choreography. The choreographic practices that the nine choreographers employ in their quest for authenticity challenge the existing notions of who is eligible to perform on stage professionally in the Chinese context, meaning that these practices express the agency of performing difference and alternative.

Keywords:

• Amateur
• authenticity
• choreographic practice
• China
• contemporary dance

Notes

1 The nine Chinese choreographers who joined this research are: Wen Hui (Beijing), Yang Zhen (Beijing), Guo Rui (Guangzhou), Wu Hui (Guangzhou), Luo Yuebing (Shanghai), Xiao Ke (Shanghai), Zhang Xian (Shanghai), Jiang Fan (Shanghai), and Song Xinxin (Shanghai). Song is now a Lecturer in Dance Choreography in Shanghai Theatre Academy; the others are considered as ‘independent choreographers’ in China.

2 The notion of “academic style”, in Mandarin spelled as xueyuan pai, refers to a group of professionals who received their dance training and dance education in the conservatoire context. Wilcox (2011) mentioned that “academic style dance” served as important elements in the theoretical vocabulary and development of ideals in Chinese dance. To claim oneself as “academic style” often distinguishes oneself from dance practitioners who engage with self-training and independent choreographic practice.

3 The Chinese translation of the English word ‘amateur’ is borrowed from Japanese and can be pronounced as ‘su ren’ (素人), in which ‘su’ suggests the state of untrained or undecorated, and ‘ren’ means people. In general, the word ‘’su ren as a translation of amateur in English is the result of cultural exchanges and interactions.

4 According to some choreographers of this study, amateurs they recruited for their projects usually get paid based on their budget, and there is no difference regarding the amount of payment between amateurs and professional dancers they collaborated with.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bisong Zheng

Bisong Zheng is a Lecturer in Dance and Choreography at the Dance Performance Department of Hubei University of Arts and Science, China. Bisong is a graduate of National Pedagogical Dragomanov University and is currently a PhD candidate at the Institute of Music, Theatre and Choreography at Herzen University, Russia. His research interests include dance choreography and dance education in the contexts of China, Russia, and Ukraine.

Ruohan Chen

Ruohan Chen is a Lecturer in Dance and Sports Art at the Sport Art College of Guangzhou Sport University, China. She holds a PhD in Dance Studies from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Ruohan has published both in English and Chinese focusing on issues of contemporary dance and dance education in the context of mainland China. Her research interests cover dance education, contemporary dance, and dance science training.