Young dancers given opportunity to shine

On July 6, the Beijing Dance Academy launched its Junior Youth Dance Company in the capital.

Young dancers aged 15 to 18 will join the company to perform different dance styles, such as ballet, traditional Chinese, Chinese folk and ballroom dancing, as well as choreographing for musicals.

By collaborating with Beijing Poly Theater Management Co, the Beijing Dance Academy will create original dance works for the company, which will be staged nationwide.

"We will introduce these young talented dancers to the audience for the first time. They are rarely seen onstage because they are still students. However, they will gain more onstage experience by joining the company, which will prepare them for their future career," says Ba Tu, Party secretary of the Beijing Dance Academy, a top dance school in China that was founded in 1954.

Chinese dancer-choreographer Wang Yabin has been commissioned to be the artistic director of the Junior Youth Dance Company of the Beijing Dance Academy.

Born in Tianjin and coming to Beijing to study at the affiliated middle school of the Beijing Dance Academy at the age of 9, Wang recalls that her dance training with the school allowed her to develop herself as a dancer and, later, as a choreographer.

"When I am with the young students, I am reminded of my younger days studying at the school. I practiced hard every day and tried to dance onstage as much as possible," says Wang, who won national dance competitions, including the first prize at the seventh Taoli Cup National Dancing Competition in 2003, the year she graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy and started teaching at the university.

"They will have the opportunity to work with veteran dancers and choreographers because we will create original dance pieces and hold dance galas for them. They will learn and be ready for their career after graduation," says Wang, who is still a member of the academy's Youth Dance Company, which was established in 1987 and gathers young dancers who graduate from the Beijing Dance Academy.

One of the artists who will train members of the Junior Youth Dance Company is the legendary ballet dancer-choreographer Vladimir Malakhov, who teaches in the ballet department at the Beijing Dance Academy.

"This is a historic moment. It's a wonderful project," says Malakhov, the former principal dancer of the Moscow Classical Ballet and the Wiener Staatsoper (Vienna State Opera), and former artistic director of the Staatsballett Berlin (Berlin State Ballet).

"I am working in one of the biggest dance academies in the world and I have seen many young, talented dancers. Every day, I see them dancing, which is like sunshine coming to my heart. I am very happy to help them to become the best dancers they can be," adds Malakhov.