Wu Wenguang: You can think that film and dance are two media that are really far from each other, but they aren’t. Dance is like theatre: it’s about a space with different materials inside of it. It is about reality. I am interested in performances that deal with life.
In China, they don’t know why you call that dancing
Pauline Doutreluingne
Pauline Doutreluingne: You first began with documentaries, and later in 1994 you founded the Living Dance Studio together. How did this story began?
Wu Wenguang: You can think that film and dance are two media that are really far from each other, but they aren’t. Dance is like theatre: it’s about a space with different materials inside of it. It is about reality. I am interested in performances that deal with life. The name of the dance company we founded together is "Living Dance Studio." It’s about living things, about real life and emotions, about social life. We do a lot of real life videos–our movements are like daily life. We don’t want to show dance that is very aesthetic. For example our work Report on Giving Birth begins with four women sitting around a table chatting and eating melon seeds. From the moment they start chatting, the dance performance begins. In China they don’t know why you call that dancing. Then a female performer starts to dance on a table that has a television set installed on it. My face is on the television screen, her legs and my head are dancing together, while another female performer crawls forward. I tell you this story to explain that our performances are all like that, no exceptions. Every performer’s experiences and stories are in the performance itself.
PD: Can you explain the concept behind the dance festival you’re organizing in Beijing?
WW: In China there aren’t many dance performances of this kind. The dance performances we often get to see here are mainly classical dance, minority dances or really commercial kind of dance performances. Classical English Ballet troupes do come over, but we almost never get the chance to see really contemporary dance or some experimental performances. The Chinese public doesn’t get the chance to see for example Wim Vandekeybus or Ballets C. de la B. In Europe you get to see a lot of things, a lot of big dance companies and small companies, more than a hundred different kinds of contemporary dance troupes and several dance festivals.
PD: Will your festival will be totally independent, without the government interfering?
ES: It’s not sure. We want to choose an interesting contemporary dance program. My experience is that if you let the government do it, their choice won’t be the same at all. They generally don’t choose contemporary performances. It’s more ballet, or similar things.
WW: Or they bring a kind of "old "Modern dance. I can go and watch that but what I want to say is that the spectator isn’t absorbed. So my objective for this year’s festival in October is that I want to create such a kind of festival. The method needs to be one of cooperation. For example we are cooperating with the Chaoyang Old Theatre. We also have two international dance companies who really want to come. They’re looking for means to accommodate their travels. My own company, Living Dance Studio, will also bring a performance. With these three performances we can already do a small dance festival.
PD: Many international dance companies are now really interested in coming to China. Why is that?
WW: They are apparently interested in every aspect of China, in the economy, research, culture and art. But they are most interested in two fields: visual art and film, for more then ten years already. Recently they also became interested in performing arts, but it takes time.
PD: I don’t think this is a bad thing. It’s the globilization of culture. If many countries cooperate to organise cultural events, we can develop faster.
ES: Right. But nowadays in Beijing there is a problem: there is no suitable environment. There isn’t a real art center that we can invite them to. So I think Wu Wenguang’s first aim is to create a suitable environment to invite them to. The environment is an important aspect. We really need a suitable environment, otherwise people won’t be interested. They want to find an audience which is interested and they want to discuss afterwards with other artists, to form a forum. Nowadays in Beijing, we really have a lack of all this. Besides all this, money is a big problem. We don’t have any.
PD: Do you think that in Beijing there is already some kind of audience for contemporary dance?
WW: There is a part that’s interested, but they don’t know about it. There haven’t been a lot of performances yet. If there will be performances, they will definitely be interested. Maybe the public won’t be huge in the beginning, but there will definitely be a public for it. The dancers in these performances are really serious artists–they are professionals. It’s not only about aesthetics; these are works you can reflect on.
ES: You have a public and a possibility, we have to bring those together. I am doing events called "Theatre in Motion." This is our first approach. There are already a lot of things going on, Wu Wenguang is doing a lot of workshops and lectures. We should put that together in advertising and make people know about it. So if people are interested, they will be able to find it.
PD: So the festival will take place in the Chaoyang Cultural Center?
WW: Yes, and it’s good we can do it there. If you don’t have a director, it’s really difficult. In Beijing there are a lot of theatres, but they just aren’t interested. They’re saying: Ah, you want to organise something here? Possible, but you’ll have to pay first. We would rent the place. And they’re talking about 10,000 or 20,000 RMB. Too expensive. We should pay by the hour.
ES: It’s important to know that it’s the first time that they have the chance to perform in a real theatre. Independent contemporary dance in China until now only had the opportunity to perform in art galleries, like in the Dashanzi Art Disctrict. This is not the same environment.
PD: You both worked at the Dashanzi International Art Festival, and contemporary dance was well-represented there. What were you experiences?
ES: Performances need all kinds of different environments. Some really need a theatre, others don’t. We only have these kind of spaces, situational spaces. It is very good that Wu Wenguang now has the chance to do it in a theatre.
WW: Dashanzi is a really strange location. There are a lot of cultural things going on there. The city is changing and hot spots are emerging. If you work at the Dashanzi Art Festival, you can really feel that China is changing. This is not just about art, it includes all kinds of things. Last year I began to work together with them. You have to participate in these cultural changes.
