Dancer in Shanghai Beauty  

MEDIA RELEASE COURTESY OF: KENNETH MYER ASIAN THEATRE SERIES

Jin Xing Dance Theatre's Shanghai Beauty comes to Melbourne

Shanghai Beauty is a ground-breaking dance performance choreographed and performed by Jin Xing, China's most famous and successful choreographer and the first transsexual recognized by the Chinese government, will be performed at the Arts Centre, State Theatre from 4 – 7 March 2010.

Shanghai Beauty addresses contrasting views of beauty and body between China and the west. The performance is the invention of Jin Xing, China’s leading force in contemporary dance and a former colonel in the People's Liberation Army who was propelled to notoriety and stardom after undergoing a sex-change 15 years ago.

Born as a male, Jin Xing experienced strong transsexual desires early in life. Returning to China at age 26, Jin Xing underwent sex reassignment surgery to become the first transsexual recognized by the Chinese government. Her story has been made famous by the documentary Colonel Jin Xing: A Unique Destiny.

"I haven't performed yet in Australia, but I know that in terms of culture Melbourne is probably the most active among all Australian cities. Therefore I'm very pleased as an artist that the Arts Centre - one of the leading venues in Australia - introduces my company to the sophisticated Melbourne audience." said Jin Xing.

In Shanghai Beauty, the two opposing views of the body and the beautiful are examined through a cross-cultural choreography for 14 dancers who move as one. The performance features distinctive choreography exploring themes of new versus old, individuality versus conformity and east versus west.

Shanghai Beauty is a creation commissioned by the House of the World Cultures, Berlin and developed as a collaboration between China's first independent dance ensemble, Jin Xing Dance Theatre Shanghai, and the German dance company Rubato.

Jin Xing’s biography as a dancer is as extraordinary as her personal life. She has studied modern dance technique at the schools of Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham in New York, and has taught and performed across Europe including La Biennale di Venezi, Dance Umbrella London and Impulstanz Vienna.

Jin Xing is recognised as the most significant choreographer in China and the director of the biggest independent dance group in the country. In 1996 she set up the Beijing Modern Dance Ensemble, the first modern dance troupe in Beijing, and in 2006 she founded the Shanghai Dance Festival as the first independent dance festival in China.

The performance is the first event in the Kenneth Myer Asian Theatre Series, a new biennial program from the Arts Centre that showcases outstanding contemporary Asian theatre works.

Jin Xing, meaning ‘golden star’, was born in 1967 in Shenyang in the north east part of China, the second child in a family living in a China that at the time was caught in the throes of the Cultural Revolution. His parents originated from Korea; his father received training as an information officer in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in the northern Chinese city in Shenyang and his mother was a Japanese translator.

After seeing a ballet performance at age 6, Jin Xing desperately wanted to start lessons, but was not encouraged. At the age of nine, Jin went on a hunger strike in an effort to force his parents to allow him to attend ballet school. After much disagreement, his parents relented, and agreed he could join the army’s dance company.

To avoid later accusations, his parents instructed their son to write the following statement: “Dear parents! I swear that it is my own wish to join the army, and that I will do everything within my power to serve my country and the Communist party.”

After completing basic military training, he quickly rose through the military ranks. However, it was ballet that was his real passion and at 17 he won his first national ballet award “Best Dancer of China”.

At age 19 he became the first Chinese dancer to win a grant from the Asian Cultural Council of America and the American Dance Festival grant to study dance in New York, including with Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham and Jose Limon. This experience was life changing for Jin Xing as he also learnt about modern dance and freedom of artistic expression, which he had never experienced in China. In 1991 he won the "Best Choreographer Award" of the American Dance Festival for his creation Half Dream.

Following his time in New York, Jin Xing then decided to move to Europe, working with various ensembles in Rome and Brussels. In 1993, Jin Xing returned to China where he began teaching for the National Choreography and Modern Dance Training workshops commissioned by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and in 1994 he resigned as a Colonel from the Chinese military dance company.

For many years he had been behaving like a man but experiencing feminine emotions, so in 1995 he decided to make a very personal move that would change his whole life - he undertook the first officially approved sex-operation in China.

This involved three separate operations, including one that lasted 16 hours. While the sex-change aspect was a complete success, because of neglect by doctors, the blood flow to one of her calves was interrupted long enough to jeopardise her ability to walk. As a result, Jin Xing spent several months in hospital regaining her physical strength and the ability to move freely again.

After nearly a year’s break, Jin Xing managed what most critics thought impossible. Against the expectations of many, Jin Xing returned on stage with a triumphant success with the creation Black and Red.

In 1996 Jin Xing set up the Beijing Modern Dance Ensemble, the first modern dance troupe in Beijing and since 1999 she has lead her own ensemble, the Jin Xing Dance Theatre which is China’s first independent modern dance and performing group. The company is much acclaimed both nationally and internationally with appearances at festivals such as La Biennale di Venezia, Dance Umbrella London, Impulstanz Vienna and Steps in Switzerland.

Following her mission to develop the culture in her home country, Jin Xing founded the Shanghai Dance Festival in March 2006 as the first independent dance festival in China.

Besides Jin Xing’s achievements in the field of dance, she is also a jazz singer and with leading roles in theatre plays and movies. Her strong engagement in the cultural world has received international recognition – in 2004 she was awarded as honorary member of ELIA, the European League of Institutes of the Arts and in November 2006 she received an honorary doctor degree from Dartington College of Arts in the UK.

Now living in Shanghai, Jin Xing is happily married and has three adopted children.

“Jin Xing tends to strike the most delicate string of the viewers' hearts with her thrilling and daring movements”
Xinhuanet (Shanghai Star)

“Jin Xing suffuses a distinctly Western form with a unique Chinese perspective” The Drama Review

Shanghai Beauty
Venue: the Arts Centre, State Theatre
Dates: 4 – 7 March 2010
Tickets: on sale now $39 - $89
Bookings: www.theartscentre.com.au, 1300 182 183* or the Arts Centre Box Office
*transaction fee applies