Wen wei wang biography of albert
Wen Wei Wang
Chinese-Canadian businessman, choreographer, dancer, and teacher
Wen Wei Wang | |
---|---|
Born | (age5960) Xi'an, China |
Education | Langzhou Army Song and Dance Company, People's Liberation Army Academy of Art |
Occupation(s) | Businessman, choreographer, dancer, teacher |
Career | |
Currentgroup | Ballet Edmonton, Wen Wei Dance |
Formergroups | Ballet BC, Les Grands Ballet Canadiens, Judith Marcuse Dance Company |
Website |
Wen Wei Wang (born ) is a Chinese-Canadian businessman, choreographer, dancer, and teacher.
Born in Xi'an, China,[1] he moved to Vancouver permanently in [1] He established the dance company Wen Wei Dance in and has since created 8 full-length works for the company.[2] He is currently the artistic director of both Wen Wei Dance and Ballet Edmonton as of [3]
Early life and career
Wang's parents had hoped he would be involved in different art forms like painting or music, but his love of dance propelled his professional career.[1] He began training at the Langzhou Army Song and Dance Company at the age of In four years was he promoted to a full-time company dancer position at only [2] Wang trained in Russian style ballet as well as other movement forms like; Chinese folk dancing, tai chi, and martial arts.[1] All these various movement studies inform his choreography today.
Wang moved to Vancouver in on a short term cultural exchange with Lorita Leung Chinese Dance Company.[1] He danced and taught for the company on his five-month tenure before moving back to China.[1] Once back in China, he began choreographing and won his first award in in Gansu Province.[1] He then began his education at People's Liberation Army Academy of Art in Beijing, participating in the country's only university-level choreography program at the time.[1]
Moving to Canada
Wang moved to Vancouver in when he was invited to the Contemporary Arts Summer Institute hosted by Simon Fraser University.[1] From onwards, Wang resided in Vancouver full-time where he danced with Judith Marcuse Dance Company for two seasons and Ballet BC for seven seasons.[2] He also participated in a choreography summer session with SFU in and briefly moved to Montreal to dance with Les Grands Ballet Canadiens for one season in [1]
Wang also taught as a freelance teacher during the same period he danced professionally with Judith Marcuse, Ballet BC, and Les Grands Ballet Canadiens.[1] He taught for various local institutions such as; Goh Ballet, Dancers Dancing, Arts Umbrella Junior Company, and the Chinese Cultural Centre.
His career as a full-time teacher and choreographer followed his performance career.[1] Outside of Wen Wei Dance, Wang has made pieces for Ballet BC, Ballet Jörgen, Alberta Ballet, North West Dance Project, a Vancouver Opera Production: Nixon in China, and for the San Francisco Opera Production of Nixon in China.[1] In , Wang partnered with Edam Dance's Peter Bingham.
Together they created and performed Thirst in [1]
Company career
Wang formed his own company called Wen Wei Dance in after the premiere of his work Tao.[1] Early on, the company was invited to tour internationally. Wang's solo work, One Man's, was created in and performed in the 7th Temporada Internacional de Danza Contemporanea Colombia.[4]
Wen Wei Dance's work, a commission from CanDance Network, premiered in Ontario.
Wen wei wang biography of albert Because what we saw instead at the Scotiabank Dance Centre premiere was a very beautiful abstract work featuring two props — small translucent eggs and four-foot-long pheasant feathers — in haunting scenes of playfulness, competition and sexuality. Wang pulled off that elusive feat of making the personal into something bigger than itself. This is often presented with more than a little humour, making the work surprisingly entertaining. Later, Martin rolls an egg luxuriously over his body while the others arch back, each one rather improbably nestling an egg over an eye. In the very next scene, the first feather appears, strapped to the forehead of the single female dancer, Denham.The premiere was well-received and the company was afforded additional international touring opportunities in Italy, China, and across Canada.
In , Wang began a collaborative process with Beijing Modern Dance Company creating pieces for the company with co-choreographer Gao Yanijzi. Under The Skin was their first work together and premiered in Ottawa in [1] They later co-choreographed a production called Made In China that premiered in Banff, Alberta in The piece focused on their shared Chinese heritage.[5]
In recent years Wen Wei Dance premiered two pieces, one of which the cast is all male and the other completely female.
The former, Dialogue (), focuses on ideas of communication, mis-communication, language barrier, and sexuality.[6] The latter, Ying Yun (), was named after and created for Wang's late mother.[7] The piece features five women.
Works
Awards
- : Clifford E.
Lee Choreography Award[2]
- : Isadora Award for Choreography (Unbound)[1]
- : Rio Tinto Alcan Award (Cockpit)[1]
- : Chrystal Dance Prize with Dance Victoria (Co-Winner with Gao Yanjinzi)
- : Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award[19]