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Wen Wei Dance
[edit]Wen Wei Dance was founded in 2003 by dancer, choreographer, and teacher Wen Wei Wang.[1]Wen Wei Dance's work is often inspired by Wang's Chinese heritage and incorporates movement elements from his background in martial arts, Chinese folk dancing, tai chi, and traditionally Western styles of ballet.[1] The company was originally named Wen Wei Dance Society when it was formed in 2003 after Wang's first full evening length work Tao premiered.[1] Wang danced in his own works until 2006.
Wen Wei Dance has presented work in Canada and all around the world.[2] The company has performed in Canada at Dancing On The Edge Festival, International Contemporary Dance Festival, and Canada Dance Festival. Internationally they have performed in the Venice Biennale Festival, the Beijing National Performing Arts Centre, and The Shanghai Grand Theatre with.[2]
Early Years
[edit]The company initially performed solely in Vancouver until their pieceUnbound was brought to Ottawa in 2006 for Canada Dance Festival. The company's success in Ottawa created touring opportunities in Italy, China, Colombia, and across Canada. Unbound was performed in Shanghai, Beijing, The Venice Bienniale, and in various cities across Canada. The piece was inspired by the Chinese practice of binding women's feet, sometimes called "lotus" feet.
Wang's next work, Three Sixty Five, involved emotions being represented by the four seasons, set to Vivaldi's classic score. His following work, Cockpit, was autobiographical. It used humour and aggression.
Wen Wei Wang
[edit]Wang was born in Xi'an, Chinain 1965. He trained at the Langzhou Army Song and Dance Company beginning in 1978 and was promoted to company member in 1982.[3] Wang received a university education in choreography from People's Liberation Army Academy of Artin Beijing, the first program of its kind in China. He moved to Vancouver briefly in 1986 on a cultural exchange program with Lorita Leung Chinese Dance Company for only five months before relocating to Vancouver permanently in 1991.
In Vancouver, Wang was invited to participate in Simon Fraser University's Contemporary Arts Sumer Institute. Following this, he danced with Vancouver based Judith Marcuse Dance Company for two seasons. Wang was hired by Ballet BC in and danced for the company for seven seasons, briefly moving to Les Grands Ballet Canadiens of Montreal for a single season in 1995.
Wang has taught for many local Vancouver institutions including; Goh Ballet Academy, Arts Umbrella Junior Company, Dancers Dancing, and The Chinese Cultural Centre of Vancouver. He has also been commissioned to choreographer for North West Dance Project, Ballet BC, Ballet Jörgen, Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, The San Francisco Opera, and the Vancouver Opera for Nixon In China.[3] Outside of Wen Wei Dance, he has collaborated with Peter Bingham of Edam Dance and Beijing Modern Dance Company.
In 2018 Wang became the artistic director of Ballet Edmonton and splits his time between the two cities.
Recent Choreography
[edit]In 2013, Wen Wei Dance produced a piece called 7th Sense. It premiered at The Vancouver Playhouse presented by DanceHouse, and was inspired by the dichotomy of improvisation. This dichotomy involved both abandon and precision. The piece explores how these two elements affect both dancing and our lives in general.[4]
Dialogue was an all-male piece that premiered in at the Dance in Vancouver Festival in 2017. The piece was centred around ideas of communication and mis-communication. Wang explores his own struggle with language barrier and how language can often be inadequate to describe true feeling.[5]
Wang choreographed a new piece for five women in 2019 called Ying Yun, dedicated to and named after his late mother.[6] The piece is inspired by her essence and power, but is also by women in general. The piece premiered at the Scotiabank Dance Centre in February of 2019.
Works
[edit]Tao (2003)
Unbound (2006)
Three Sixty Five (2007)
Cock Pit (2008)
7th Sense (2013)
Dialogue (2017)
Ying Yun (2019)
Awards
[edit]2006 : Isadora Award for Choreography (Unbound)[7]
2009 : Rio Tinto Alcan Award[7]
- ^ a b c "Wen Wei Wang | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
- ^ a b "Wen Wei Wang". Ballet BC. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
- ^ a b "Wen Wei Wang | Biographies". nac-cna.ca. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
- ^ "Wen Wei Dance (Vancouver)". DanceHouse. 2016-11-23. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
- ^ vanlovesart (2017-11-29). "Wen Wei Wang's "Dialogue" Leaves You Breathless". The Vancouver Arts Review. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
- ^ "Wen Wei Dance honours the strength of women with new piece Ying Yun". Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly. 2019-02-13. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
- ^ a b "Wen Wei Wang | Biographies". nac-cna.ca. Retrieved 2019-08-14.