一个有着温暖冬阳的午后,我作为一个自由撰稿人,一个舞蹈爱好者,有幸地采访了姚勇舞蹈学院的院长和艺术总监姚勇老师。

在姚勇舞蹈学院学舞,已经有两三年的时间了,期间深深感染到了学院里对舞蹈这门艺术的严谨,执着和深刻的理解。最初吸引我来到这里学习,是在观看了姚勇舞蹈学院的一次学生汇演之后,姚老师所编导的”鸿雁“深深地打动了我,草原上的鸿雁,时而低徊,时而高飞,天高云淡,鸿雁排列长空,回望故乡,整个舞蹈由十六位舞者共同演出,舞台布局流畅大气,极具画面感,让人荡气回肠。那时我想,能够把音乐,肢体,情感,舞台布局和对比编排得如此完美的编舞者,是怎样一位才华横溢的艺术家啊。

而这位编舞者,正是姚勇老师。这以后,我又观看了他创作的舞蹈”黄河”,“天边”,“草原”等等。从他的创作中,我们真正体会到了舞蹈是心灵的艺术,因为舞台上展现的,不仅是舞者肢体的线条美,韵律美,更是那内在的,广阔无边的心之宇空。中国民族民间舞蹈丰富的语汇,在编舞者的调配之下,呈现出独特的,优美流畅,气势如虹的场景,表现出对自然,对生命的深刻感悟和解读。

在所有的艺术门类中,舞蹈也许是最为艰苦卓绝的。且不说舞蹈基本功的艰苦,就是一个优秀编舞艺术家的灵感,要通过音乐的启发,转化成肢体和情感的完美结合,然后要传达给舞台上的每一个舞者,加上灯光,布局,动和静,喜与悲,力量和柔软的强烈对比,而最终把这种心灵的震撼传达给每一个观众,这期间是多么艰苦而漫长的道路啊。而这种艰苦,对姚勇老师来说,显然是甘之若怡的。当我问到是什么激励着他这么多年不懈的创作热情的时候。他说:“音乐,自然和生活本身就是取之不竭的创作源头和创作动力。”他向

我描述了当年创作“茉莉花”的时候,好比重回那个真挚无暇的年少时光,走过飘着茉莉花香的路口,追寻那个洁白的,纯的让人心疼的梦幻般的记忆。而像“黄河”这样的气势磅礴的音乐,他凭着艺术家的直觉,尽情地在舞台上展现“黄河之水天上来,奔流到海不复还”的景象,舞者的肢体,在舞台上构架出惊心动魄的场景,而音乐所描绘的民族灵魂,也正是在这样强烈的舞台画面里被表现得淋漓尽致。

当问起姚勇老师,他创作舞蹈的最主要的元素是什么时?他只说了两个字:“自然”。舞蹈创意的天然而成,舞者动作情感的自然而发,音乐和肢体的自然结合,一切的过渡,烘托,起落,高潮,都是自然而然的。原来这就是为什么看姚老师编的舞蹈,没有哗众取宠,没有忸怩作态,只有一种气韵,一种精神,从编舞者的心灵流淌而出,通过每一个音符,到舞者的肢体,指尖,表情,到舞台上每一幅流动的画面,一气呵成,让观看者意犹未尽。写到这里,我想起杜甫观看公孙大娘舞剑时写的两句诗:“来如雷霆收震怒,罢如江海凝清光。” 是啊,好的舞蹈,让我们想起的,就是人和自然之间最完美的结合,和最流畅的比喻。这种自然观,正是贯穿了姚勇老师所有创作的纽带。

在每一次感人肺腑的舞台表演之后,都有着无数个汗水交织而成的日日夜夜。对姚勇老师来说,在硅谷这个科技多于文化的环境中,带领一批又一批业余的舞者,创作一个又一个优秀的舞蹈,挑战是巨大的。把“小众”的舞蹈文化传播给大众,让所有愿意接触舞蹈的人们都能感受到舞蹈给身体,心灵所带来的双重修炼和幸福,但同时又要秉持舞蹈这门艺术的价值,让每个舞蹈都能展现出现有资源下的最好,让每个舞者都能舞成自己的最好。这是多么艰巨,又是多么有意义的一项使命啊!

当问起姚勇老师,这么多年是怎么坚持开学院,又坚持编舞创作的时候,他充满柔情地提到了他生命中最重要的女人,他的太太,同样是舞蹈家的王关姗老师。每一个成功男人的背后,都有一个好女人。王老师,正是这样一个智慧的好女人。王老师以一个优秀教师的风范,把她对教学的认真,和对艺术的严谨带到了给学生们上的每一节课里。上过她课的学生,无论程度如何,都会从她细致入微的传授中得到收获,并最大程度地挖掘出自己身上的舞蹈潜能。所以对姚勇老师来说,王老师不仅是一个最好的贤内助,同时又是一个最佳的合作伙伴,和最坚强的创作支持者。

谈到这里的时候,午后的阳光正暖暖地照在咖啡屋的小桌上。我的心中也充满了一种温暖的感动。眼前坐着的姚勇老师,温和,谦逊,没有那种艺术家的骄矜,有的,是一种努地在艺术的道路上不断创作,分享,传承的踏实心境。世间有舞蹈艺术,是多么美好的事情!而像姚勇老师,王关姗老师这样的舞蹈艺术家,更是我们的骄傲和珍宝。他们带着自己对艺术发自心灵的热忱,给我们的舞台,也给我们的生活带来美,带来善,带来身体的提升,和精神的享受。感谢你们,也祝福你们,姚勇舞蹈学院。

雨程 (天鸿基金会)

2016年12月

An Interview with Mr. Yao Yong

– Dean and Art Director of Yao Yong Dance Academy

On a sunny winter afternoon, as a freelance writer, a dance enthusiast, I had the honor to interview Mr Yao Yong – Dean and Art Director of Yao Yong Dance Academy.

I have been taking classes at Yao Yong Dance Academy for two to three years

by now. During this time, I am deeply touched by the rigor, persistence and profound

understanding of the art of dance in the academy. It was a student dance show that

originally attracted me to learn dancing here. The dance “Wild Geese” choreographed

and directed by Mr Yao Yong deeply touched my heart. The dance depicted a group of

wild geese on the grassland. Sometimes staying low, sometimes flying high, sky broad,

clouds scattered, wild geese arranged themselves in the sky and looked back at their

homeland. Sixteen dancers participated in the performance, the stage layout was

extremely picturesque, smooth, and soul-stirring. At that time, I could not help

wondering who was such a talented artist, that could choreograph so perfectly utilizing

music, body movements, emotions, as well as layout and contrast on the stage.

The choreographer turns out to be Mr. Yao Yong. After that show, I also watched

some of his other original dance programs including “Yellow River”, “On the Horizon”,

” Prairie ” and so on. From his creations, we can truly appreciate that dance is the art of

the soul. What’s on stage is not only the visual and melodic aesthetic view associated

with the body movements of dancers, but also the boundless inner universe of human

kind. The rich vocabulary of Chinese folk dance was here deployed by the

choreographer in a beautiful, smooth yet breathtaking way to convey his deep insight

into life and unique interpretation of the nature.

Among all categories of arts, dance is perhaps the most arduous. Not to mention

the hard basic technique training. Just imagine the journey of turning a choreographer’s

inspiration into a dance production. Often enlightened by a piece of music, the

choreographer creates the perfect combination of dance movements and emotions.

Then each step needs to be passed on to each dancer, on top of which, lighting,

setup, dynamic and static pictures created on stage, the joy and sorrow, the strength

and softness, all these strong contrasts created a soul moving experience which

ultimately needs to be conveyed to each audience. What a long and Herculean journey!

This Herculean effort, however, is clearly Mr Yao Yong’s passion and enjoyment.

When I asked what was the motivation behind his relentless creative passion for so

many years. “Music, nature and life are inexhaustible sources of creativity and

motivation to create,” he said. He described to me the process of creating the dance

“Jasmine Flower” as a return to the immaculate young age. As if walking by the

intersection with Jasmine fragrance again, he was pursuing that pure and soft hearted

memory of the youth in the dance. Another example was Mr Yao Yong’s famous

production “Yellow River”. With the magnificent music, he relied on his artistic intuition,

and fully utilized the stage to present the scene of “Yellow River comes from the sky, it

flows into the ocean with no return”. His choreography created a thrilling scene with the

bodies of dancers. The soul of the music was thoroughly conveyed and vividly depicted

in a strong stage presentation.

When asked what was the most important element of his dance choreography,

Mr Yao summarized in two words: “Be Natural.” The natural formation of the original

idea, the natural deployment of dancers’ emotional and body movements, the natural

combination of music and choreography, including all the transition, contrast, ups and

downs, climax, are all natural. No wonder when we watch Mr Yao’s dance productions,

we see no grandstanding, no coy, only a spirit, a momentum, naturally flowing out from

the choreographer’s heart and soul, through every music note, to the limbs, fingertips,

expressions of the dancers, and to each flow of the picture on stage. It was formed in

such a natural way that the audience often longs for more when the program ends.

When I paused my writing at this moment, I thought of the poem by Du Fu – a famous

poet in Tang Dynasty when he was watching a sword dance by Aunt GongSun “When

she moves, she moves like a thunder collecting back her anger; When she stops, she

stays still like a river reflecting the clear daylight.” Yes, a good dance, is a perfect

combination of human and nature, and the most fluent metaphor between the two. This

essence of being natural, is exactly the spirit that gets carried through all the creations

of Mr. Yao Yong.

Behind every touching stage performance, there are numerous sweaty days and

nights. In the environment of the Silicon Valley where there are often more technology

than arts, Mr Yao is facing an enormous challenge to lead groups of amateur dancers

and create excellent dance productions year after year. By bringing the “small minority”

art of dance to the general public, Yao wants all who are willing to learn dance to feel

the dual positive impact of dance on their body and soul. In the meantime, the value of

this art of dance needs to be sustained. Making each dance the best with existing

resources, and supporting each dancer to be her or his own best. What a hard and

meaningful mission!

When asked how he was able to manage the school while pursuing original

choreography, Mr Yao mentioned the most important woman in his life with great

tenderness, his wife, also a dance master – Mrs Wang Guan Shan. Behind every

successful man, there is a good woman. Wang, is such a good woman of wisdom. As

an excellent dance teacher, Wang brings her serious teaching style and artistic rigor

into each lesson for her students. Her students, regardless of level, can often harvest a

lot from her meticulous guidance and be able to tap their own dance potential to the

greatest extent possible. So for Mr Yao Yong, Wang is not only the best wife, but also a

best partner, and the strongest supporter of his creative pursues.

As the conversation draws to an end, the afternoon sun is warmly shining on the

table in the coffee shop. My heart is also filled with a warm touch. Sitting in front of me,

Mr Yao Yong looks so moderate and humble, without the kind of pride of an

accomplished artist. What I can sense is a solid and practical state of mind in him to

continue creating, sharing, and educating in his dance journey. It is such a wonderful

thing to have the art of dance in this world, and dance masters like Mr Yao Yong and

Mrs Wang Guan Shan are our pride and treasure. With enthusiasm towards the art of

dance from their own hearts, they bring to our stage, and also to our lives the artistic

beauty, the kindness, the enhancement to our body and enjoyment for our spirit.

Thank you, and wish you all the best, Yao Yong Dance Academy!

YuCheng

TianHong Foundation

December 2016