Body language

Choreographer expresses changing nature of cultural mix between East and West

When Janis Claxton first took kung fu lessons as part of her dance training in her native Australia, she knew she had to visit China sooner or later. Nearly three decades later, Claxton regrets she did not manage to fully experience the Asian giant's enormous changes since that time - but that is not stopping her from depicting some of that transformation through her work.

In her new piece Song of Change, Claxton brings together three Chinese and three Western dancers to illustrate "the changing nature of the West and the East coming together".

"It's a bit like a battle and resolution. For me, it's like the urgency on the need for China and the West to come together. We have to do this, but there are many conflicts in the way," she says.

Claxton, 47, who now lives in Edinburgh, is widely regarded as one of Scotland's leading choreographers. Her collaboration with renowned modern dance group Beijing Dance, or LDTX, will debut on July 22 to open the first annual Beijing Dance Week.

Based on the music of Polish composer Henryk Gorecki, the triple bill features Claxton's acclaimed work Songs are Sung, as well as Song of Change, the new piece which features three male dancers from LDTX and three female dancers from the Janis Claxton Dance group.

In Song of Change, Claxton introduces a new way of pairing dancers to illustrate the idea of equality.

"This is what I call 'gender unspecific'. Two girls and one boy do the same role. It's about equality. There is a lot of lifting, and in China usually the boys lift the girls. But we have the girls lifting the boys just as equally," she says.

This is not Claxton's first involvement in the Chinese dance scene. Since 2009, she has choreographed for various Chinese dance groups including LDTX, Beijing Dance Academy and Beijing Song and Dance Co.

Claxton says she is very excited to be one of the first few overseas artists to be involved with China's modern dance as it is just getting warmed up.

"Because this doesn't happen very often in China. It's quite rare for Chinese and Western dance companies to be working together," she says.

"It's a long-time dream. And finally I'm here."

Growing up in Australia where Asian culture is prevalent, Claxton has always had a huge interest in China and the Far East in general. She practiced kung fu on a daily basis for four years from 18 to 22.

But it was not until 2009 that she finally came to China through the British Council's Connection through Culture grant. More opportunities followed. She was invited by Willie Tsao, co-founder of LDTX, as the first foreigner to choreograph for the group. Her works have been presented at the Guangdong Modern Festival, DaDao Live Art Festival, Shanghai Expo, Beijing Dance Festival and Beijing Dance Academy.

While the collaborations have turned out fruitful, different approaches to dance training between China and the West have created challenges. Rote learning, which is common in Chinese education, is among them.

"Dancers in China are so fast in picking up movements. But they generally don't go for the details inside it. In the West, we are more educated to think for ourselves. So as the dancer, we improvise and solve problems. This is very different and we are trying to work with both ways," Claxton says.

While China's modern dance is still far behind compared with Western countries in terms of styles and ideas, the gap also offers room for pioneering work.

"For example, I teach them contact improvisation. It's a special partnering dance that has been in the West for 40 years. And I'm the only person who has ever done it here," she says.

During the past few years, numerous theaters were built and new dance groups were founded in China. Freelance dancers, who used to be rare, have also prospered due to the growing opportunities. Still, all of those do not necessarily make China a good place for international artists to be in, Claxton says.

"If you love China and want to engage with the culture at the deepest level you can find, then yes, it's a good place to be. But if you think 'Oh, there is a dance scene happening in China and I can just get some opportunities', then no. There is not so much money in dance. It's not a place to just do the surface engagement. It's a place to be if you really want to make a connection," she says.

In 2010, Claxton was invited to perform Human Animal at the Shanghai Expo, an additional work to her award-winning Enclosure 44 - Humans, set in an animal enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo.

Claxton attributed some of the inspiration to her kung fu training.

"The kung fu I did is based on five animals: the leopard, the tiger, the crane, the snake and the monkey. The connection with animals inspired me. From then on, I had started to study animal behavior and animal movements. The early days of kung fu have really influenced my dance and my life," she says.

She is now considering doing more "human animal" performances in China, this time to deliver a different message from the original intention of exploring the connection between human and animals.

"The connection of human and animals is very different here in China. I'm always shocked and sad to see animals in small cages on the streets. I want to express a message, but I don't want a message against people who keep animals in small cages. But if I did this in China, I might have to say that," she says.

Claxton is also auditioning five Chinese dancers, whom she will bring to Scotland to work with four Western dancers for a performance at the Edinburgh International Science Festival.

"We have to find ways of meeting together," she says.

Contact the writer at sunyuanqing@chinadaily.com.cn