Photo by Jared Martin
Yu Wei - Honored as the Daughter of Dance in China, by China National Dance Magazine. Praised for being a special artist and a gifted, sensitive dancer, and a brilliant dance star, Yu Wei is a prodigiously talented choreographer and dancer from China, whose captivating dance visions have been holding American audiences spellbound. Praised for her purity of dance style and loved by her audiences everywhere, Yu Wei has performed throughout the United States including New York's Manhattan Center and the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington DC. She is influenced by the synergy between dance, poetry and music that flourished during the Tang Dynasty. Natural observation, folk tradition and her classical training inform Yu Wei's dance art. Her choreography is filled with the vivid imagery of life. Traditional costumes, original music and short narrative films combine to create a performance of cultural significance and artistic power. "Yu Wei's artistry and talent captivated our audience. This program rates in the top five programs we've presented for artistic merit and audience enjoyment." one presenter wrote after a Yu Wei performance. As a little girl she was selected by the Wuhan Song and Dance Theater Academy to study a broad curriculum of dance based on Chinese classical, traditional, folk dance and ballet. Her major teachers were Shao Jiu-lin, Chen Li-xing, Liu Feng and Xiao Yu -zhen. After graduating she joined the company at the Wuhan Song and Dance Theater where she continued her studies in Chinese folk dance, modern dance, Peking Opera, Gymnastics, and Aesthetics under such nationally known masters as Huang Ji-shi, Li De-fu and Cheng Yun. In 1986 she became the principal dancer of the Wuhan Company. Since 1989 she has performed as a guest artist with the Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan Province Dance Companies and in Beijing with the Chinese National Song and Dance Ensemble. She was the lead dancer of National Ballets "Lijiang River Sentiment" and "Yao Shan Flame". She has also been a guest artist in many important national Festivals throughout China, including the China National 20th Century Extraordinary Dance Exhibition, National China and Japan Friendship Celebration in Beijing and the China National Contemporary Famous Dancers Performing Group. In 1992 Yu Wei moved to Beijing to begin her long study and collaboration with nationally renowned dance master Zhang Ke, and to create her own collection of solo dances known as the Yu Wei Dance Collection. The Collection has been performed in Beijing, Xian, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Kunming, Dagin, Anqin, Jiayuguan. It has been broadcast on National Centre Television, and performed at the National Dance Association Convention in 1997. Yu Wei came to the United States in February 2000
now living in Philadelphia and performing her dance National and International wide.
Has the reputation of being "A rare genius" in the Chinese dance world, was the vice president of China National Ethnic Dancers Association and the professor of the Dance Department of The National Ethnic University of China. Mr. Zhang Ke has created and directed more than a hundred national dance ballets and events throughout of China. Mr. Zhang Ke was the artistic direction master of Yu Wei’s dances from 1992 - 1999 in Beijing.
"Yu Wei has a mastery of the diverse disciplines of modern, traditional, folk and ballet. As a choreographer and performer her sinuous line and lyrical grace are expressed in a unique style. Her approach to dance embodies respect for the past with a breadth of imagination that reinvigorates old forms. Her art is both unique and exquisite. She is an outstanding figure of China." ------ Zhang Ke
A well-known dance master of “De Yang-Ge” folk style, a living treasure of Chinese folk dance, he was a board member of the directors of the China National Dancers Association. He was the master teacher of Yu Wei fan dance.
"Yu Wei has been my best student. She is one of the most actively creative and charming young dancers of China. She searches for truth in art and beauty in life. She is the daughter of dance" ------ Huang-jishi