Shen Wei’s Olympic Moves

When choreographer Shen Wei first arrived in New York from China 13 years ago, he had had limited exposure to the international culture of modern dance. At the time, the only modern dance company that existed in his homeland was his own, the Guangdong Modern Dance Company. Now, having founded his own New York company and enjoying commissions around the world, Mr. Shen is returning to China as the ambassador of that very culture, working as principal choreographer for the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics.Despite — or perhaps because of — his now global experience, Mr. Shen has met with multiple challenges working on this worldly event in Beijing.“I am working with dancers from Beijing with classical and Chinese dance training,” Mr. Shen said from his Beijing hotel in the Olympic Village one recent morning. “These are very good dancers, amazing, wonderful dancers, but everything I do is new to them. They have no modern dance style and I have to train them and teach them from the beginning and throughout.”Most members of the (mainly Chinese) Olympic creative team are new to Mr. Shen’s more modern and international artistic approach.“In New York I live and communicate with people where there is an international culture of art,” Mr. Shen said. “But here I first have to talk to people about the global culture of art where there is also a modern way to do things, not only the Chinese traditional way. I want to show China today, the modern China. We don’t only want to see dragons and lanterns, but want to meld modern culture with Chinese tradition.”Due to concerns over the country’s human rights record, there have been numerous international protests over China’s hosting the Olympics, and several heads of state have hinted at plans to boycott the opening ceremonies altogether. Rather than a cause for contention, though, Mr. Shen sees the festivities as a chance to unite people from different countries with differing views.“Some people say, ‘Oh, you’re just working on the Olympics, on games,'” Mr. Shen said in a scoffing tone. “But actually this is a huge cultural process and project and it is important to be involved. We have people coming here from all over and from all different backgrounds to work together. There were many difficulties in the beginning, but in the end we have to learn to communicate.”Mr. Shen’s earlier experiences, arriving in New York in his mid-20s with just a few words of English and no cultural understanding of America, helped prepare him for certain stumbling blocks. Initially, he was shocked by aspects of New York life. He was befuddled by the American obsession with schedules and datebooks filled to the hour months in advance. He was perplexed by youngsters who received pay from their parents for odd jobs around the house.“I saw in families that some people paid money to their children for little jobs like cutting the grass,” Mr. Shen said. “I really didn’t understand this because in China you should do everything for family and never ask for anything in return.”He did not, however, condemn these foreign customs. “It takes a while to understand the way a different culture works so that you don’t get upset about it,” Mr. Shen said. “I wasn’t going to return to China just because things are different. Slowly you see that there is a different lifestyle because there is a different background, and that one lifestyle is not better than the other.”Similarly, when touring foreign countries with Shen Wei Dance Arts, Mr. Shen enters each culture with interest and openness.“We have our own way of thinking about a country before we go there, partly from the media and from what people say,” Mr. Shen said. “We all have different lifestyles, politics, philosophy. Not only the way we grew up is right.”While preparing for the Olympics, Mr. Shen is also conducting research for part three of his ‘Re’ triptych, which began with “Tibet” (2006) and “Angkor Wat” (2007). Part three, “Silk Road,” will have its premiere sometime in 2009 and will address some of the discrepancies Mr. Shen sees between the isolated China of the past and the country’s need for an openness in the future.“I am looking at how Western culture goes into China, and how Chinese culture goes to the West; at how Chinese culture has communicated with different cultures in the past and how China changes through different cultures,” he said. “Every day I spend in China is information to help me understand the country.”

Shen Wei’s Olympic Moves

Shen Wei’s Olympic Moves

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