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Poet with cerebral palsy to perform in dance inspired by her works and life
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The new dance work “Ten Thousand Tons of Moonlight,” by its name alone, conveys both heaviness and romance.
Directed by English dance producer Farooq Chaudhry, “Ten Thousand Tons of Moonlight” is inspired by the poetry of Yu Xiuhua and her unusual life experiences.
Yu herself will join another three performers for the show, which will premiere in Shanghai on November 15 at Theater Young.
Born in 1976, Yu was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at birth, which left her unable to walk steadily or speak clearly. After graduating from high school, the Hubei Province native was unemployed at home, but showed extraordinary writing talent and gradually became a famous poet in China.
Her poems are full of romance and passion, many of which express her daring and sincere longing for love, including the two representative works “Crossing Half of China to Sleep with You” and “I Love You.”
Her personal life has also been the focus of public attention, including her divorce from her husband, who was 12 years older than her and whom she did not love, as well as her new love, marriage and public quarrels with her second husband.
“I chanced upon Yu Xiuhua’s poetry in 2017, and it immediately captivated me,” Chaudhry said.
Chaudhry is the co-founder and producer of Akram Khan Company. He has been collaborating with Chinese artists, including Chinese dance icon Yang Liping, for 25 years. Yet, the success in his career could not cover up a hole in his heart.
Chaudhry is a Pakistani immigrant who grew up in England and endured a lot of discrimination and unhappiness during his childhood.
“I could relate to Yu’s poems,” he said. “As an immigrant, I constantly felt like a shadow in a society that refused to accept me, just like Yu, a poetess with cerebral palsy who was hardly accepted in a Chinese village.”
Chaudhry said a shadow is an important symbol in this new dance.
“It’s a symbol of a person living in the dark,” he said.
“As a teenager, dance gave me wings that set me free in a similar way that writing poetry did for Yu,” he added. “Yu and her story have given me more courage to create a work about finding bonds between people.”
Chaudhry compares ballet to a novel, and contemporary dance to poetry.
“Contemporary dance and poetry share a lot of similarities, including the metaphors and hidden meaning,” he said.
“Ten Thousand Tons of Moonlight” integrates poetry, contemporary dance and visual design. It features seven of Yu’s poems, with three of them written especially for the dance piece.
Two professional dancers will use their bodies to express the poet’s personal struggles and emotional contradictions. An actress will play the “perfect self” in the eyes of the poet.
Yu will take part in the performance, during which she will present a solo dance, imitating a bird that longs to fly.
“I have never thought that I would be able to dance,” Yu said. “Chaudhry and his wife came to my village, and we spent a week together before they told me a dance could be created.”
Due to her physical limitations, Yu has to put in a lot of effort to be a part of a stage performance.
“Chaudhry doesn’t ask much of me, but I really want to do the movements well and express the emotions completely,” she said.
Although she trembles uncontrollably on stage, Yu doesn’t mind showing herself in public.
“Because I never think I am that great. I am just a nobody,” she said. “So it doesn’t matter if I make mistakes on stage. For a person, the important thing is to constantly improve yourself, not how the public sees you.”
Chaudhry said Yu’s straightforwardness and humor are what attracted him most.
“She often challenges me with grace, humor and honesty, and that’s what you need when doing such an unusual and daring project,” he said. “And of course, you need trust.”
Chaudhry explained the creative process of the dance: Yu’s poems are translated into English, and a sign language expert translates the lines into sign language. The choreographer follows the sign language to design the dance movements.
“Everything of the work is rooted in Yu’s language, including the movements, light and music,” Chaudhry said.
“Ten Thousand Tons of Moonlight” is still in the final synthesis, though a few pre-shows have already been performed in London and Newcastle.
“I’m glad to see the work connecting very well with the younger generation in England,” Chaudhry said.
“We live in a social phenomenon filled with superficial definitions for beauty and love. This work is raising questions against that.”
After its debut in China, Chaudhry is planning to take “Ten Thousand Tons of Moonlight” to more countries, including the United States and Australia, and introduce Yu to audiences around the world.
Performance info
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