www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
World
Home / World / Friends Afar

Ballet maestro's fond China memories

Ben Stevenson reflects on decades of cultural exchange, heartfelt friendships

By May Zhou in Houston | China Daily | Updated: 2025-05-22 09:43
Share
Share - WeChat
Ben Stevenson; Feng Ying (right), director of the National Ballet of China; and ballet master Wang Caijun strike a pose on the Great Wall in 2018. PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY

Editor's note: China Daily presents the series Friends Afar to tell the stories of people-to-people exchanges between China and other countries. Through the vivid narration of the people in the stories, readers can get a better understanding of a country that is boosting openness.

Ben Stevenson compared his first visit to China in 1979 to the ballet he choreographed for the National Ballet of China: just like Cinderella when she laid her eyes for the first time on the prince in the ballroom, he fell in love with China when he first saw her.

Stevenson, a Briton and recipient of the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his great contribution to ballet, has had a long career.

He began his journey as a ballet dancer with the Royal Ballet in London, and shifted to the role of artistic director at the National Ballet of Washington, DC; Chicago Ballet; Houston Ballet; and Texas Ballet Theater since 1971. He has spent more than 50 years in the United States ballet world.

His connection with China started when the two countries established diplomatic relations. He was the artistic director at the Houston Ballet.

Turning 90 years old soon, Stevenson is not good with dates and numbers any more. He cannot remember exactly how many times he has visited China other than that he did "many times".

But he remembers, with fondness and tenderness, details of his many trips to China, such as the automatic curtain in a Beijing theater and a KFC fried chicken picnic on the Great Wall.

He remembers speaking to a monk in a monastery outside Beijing. The monk was 97 years old and was educated in Oxford many decades ago. He remembers he had a good laugh when crashing into a bus riding a brakeless bike in Beijing. He remembers a delicious lunch where the restaurant cooked fish he fished up.

Speaking to China Daily in Houston when he came from Fort Worth, Texas, to attend the opening of his The Sleeping Beauty by Houston Ballet, Stevenson walked down the memory lane.

The first trip to China was through Europe and took a couple of stops before landing in Beijing.

"We landed in a field in Beijing and they threw our bags out on the grass. We had to carry them into a hut. Now the Beijing airport is the most glamorous in the world," Stevenson said.

"But it was the best time because the simple things were the best and just amazing. It was in a way my most favorite time of going there, those first years at the beginning."

During that trip, Stevenson visited the Beijing Dance Academy and the National Ballet of China (then the Central Ballet Troupe). He made friends with legendary dancer Dai Ailian and then academy principal Chen Jinqing, and throughout the years, many others.

Stevenson gave a few lessons at the Beijing Dance Academy during his first visit. He went back to teach many times after that. He was deeply impressed and touched by students' technical caliber and their passion to learn the new techniques and ideas that he offered. In the end, he proposed to invite two students to Houston Ballet for a summer of training, thus beginning the first ballet dancer exchanges between the United States and China.

One of the students, Li Cunxin, became the first Chinese principal dancer at Houston Ballet. Later, Li Anlin, once with the National Ballet of China, was invited by Stevenson to join Houston Ballet in 1989 to be another principal dancer.

Li Anlin has worked with Stevenson for more than 30 years. When Stevenson left Houston Ballet to become the artistic director of Texas Ballet Theater in 2003, he invited Li to come with him and be the master of the troupe.

Stevenson misses his teaching time in Beijing. "When I was at the Beijing Dance Academy, at the end of two or three weeks of teaching, all the students in the class would have a little party," he said. "If someone came from some village, they'd play a little drum or someone else would sing a song. That was fabulous."

When it was Stevenson's turn, he sang a Chinese children's song, I love Beijing Tian'anmen, that he learned from Li Cunxin. "When I sang this song, they thought it was hysterical," Stevenson said.

1 2 Next   >>|
Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 精品九九视频 | 久草在线青青草 | 精品国产爱久久 | 91久久国产口精品久久久久 | 欧美人成在线观看网站高清 | 日韩美视频网站 | 亚洲日产2021三区 | 成人国产网站v片免费观看 成人国产午夜在线视频 | 久久久久久毛片免费观看 | 久久精品国产亚洲高清 | 蜜桃日本一道无卡不码高清 | 成人自拍网 | 国产精品久久永久免费 | 在线观看免费精品国产 | 伊人2222| 久久国产精品99久久久久久牛牛 | 毛片随便看 | 精品久久免费视频 | 国产精品99久久久久久宅男 | 亚洲精品日韩一区二区 | 成人性色生活影片 | 欧美 日韩 国产 在线 | 在线观看欧美一区 | www.久久久| 农村寡妇一级毛片免费看视频 | 一区二区三区在线免费视频 | 亚洲成人综合视频 | 男女在线免费视频 | 欧美特黄一级aa毛片 | 好看毛片 | 一级在线视频 | 荡公乱妇蒂芙尼中文字幕 | 亚洲国产成人精彩精品 | 欧美三区在线 | pgone太大了兽王免费视频 | 国产精品99在线观看 | 国产视频软件在线 | 欧美综合一区二区三区 | 久久亚洲国产精品五月天 | 永久天堂 | 8000av在线 |