Creating, painting, reading, playing the guqin, learning French, occasionally going out to buy groceries, running... On the other end of the phone, the dancer Shen Wei described his daily life in Paris to reporters, like a hermit hiding in the busy city.
In mid-July, 54-year-old Shen Weigang took home the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Dance Festival.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was originally planned to be awarded in 2020, but was postponed to 2022 due to the epidemic. Established in 1981, this award recognizes choreographers who have made outstanding contributions to modern dance and is the ultimate hall of fame in the modern dance world. Shen Wei is a rare Chinese dancer who has won this honor.
"Shen Wei is both a visual magician and a technological innovator." The American Dance Festival commented in the award speech: his works subtly integrate the influence of Eastern and Western cultures, and are not bound by the boundaries of culture and art, whether on stage or canvas , film or exhibition, installation, his works brilliantly fuse sensory and intellectual precision, visual design and physical energy, refusing to categorize, which can only be described with one word: Shen Wei.
The olive branch of the commission came from the China Oriental Performing Arts Group and Meishan Song and Dance Theater, which had produced "Only Green". Shen Wei, who is also the director, screenwriter, choreographer, and visual designer, wanted to bring the poetry and sentiment of the Northern Song Dynasty scholar Su Shi to the stage.
"Half excited, half worried, it's too difficult to touch." After receiving the invitation at the beginning of the year, Shen Wei spent seven or eight months reviewing traditional Chinese culture. At the end of August, he will return to China and select actors from scratch , to form a team, and it is expected to hand over a new work full of oriental aesthetics at the beginning of next year.
Not surprisingly, on the road of creation, Shen Wei is alone again.
For a long time, the director, choreographer, choreographer, costume, and video vision in Shen Wei's works were almost all done by him, and he seldom hired someone to do it for him.
"It's not easy to find someone who has the same taste and creativity as you." Shen Wei said that his aesthetic awareness is all about his life experience. If the aesthetics of the collaborator is not on the same line as his, he will spend a lot of money on it. A lot of time to explain, to persuade, it is better to save time and energy.
Going into the world alone, from creation to life, Shen Wei is accustomed to being alone, facing everything alone, never feeling bitter or afraid of difficulties.
In 1990, Shen Wei created his first professional modern dance "The Sun Still Rises" in the modern dance experimental class of Guangdong Dance School. In 1995, Shen Wei went to New York alone. He was one of the pioneers of Chinese modern dance, and one of the earliest people who took the initiative to go abroad. In 2000, Shen Wei's "Ladder to Heaven" premiered at the American Dance Festival and became an instant hit. On the basis of these dancers, he established "Shen Wei Dance Art" and began to truly enter the mainstream Western artistic vision.
In 2014, Shen Wei, who has lived in New York for a long time, landed in Shanghai for the first time with "Sound of Hope" and "Rite of Spring". In 2021, Shen Wei's tailor-made "Rong" for Shanghai, which can be called an "artistic spectacle", became a sensation. Shen Wei and Shanghai are deeply bound together because of their artistic reunion.
Beautiful "crit", this is the intuitive feeling of many people after reading Shen Wei's works. He rarely looks back and can't count how many works he has created. The only thing he can be sure of is, "I'm still very young, and I won't stop creating."
Even if honors are waiting for him, and high-quality products come out one after another, he will still be nervous and put a lot of pressure on himself every time there is a new work in the row. For decades, Shen Wei has maintained the sincerity that many people lack in his creative attitude.
"Improve self-cultivation, music, culture, aesthetics, study, study, study again." His advice to young people is very practical, be patient, don't rush for success, and enjoy the life process of being an artist, not for the purpose And the purpose.
The Paper: At the awards ceremony of the American Dance Festival, your "Summary" made its world premiere. This new work combines your dance and painting, as beautiful as ever.
Shen Wei: This was commissioned by the American Dance Festival. The other party asked if he could publish a new work on the day of the awards. I said no problem. I picked 9 dancers I didn't know to train there and stayed for over a month.
This work has an artistic summary, and has accumulated my experience over the past many years, including my relationship with painting, with vision, and with dance movements, all of which are presented just right.
The work is 21 minutes long. It is small and refined. It is very engaging and interesting. I will find it interesting after watching it many times. I am very happy and comfortable every time I watch it. Dancers also like to dance, after all, I have been studying how to use my body for so many years.
There are several paragraphs in the work, but the whole thing does not feel like a segment. The visual changes and the movement also changes, and it is always flowing. Four paintings are projected in the depths of the stage, which I have painted in the past two years, and also represent a summary of my past. The original two paintings were also exhibited at the ceremony.
The Paper: In 1989, you were admitted to the modern dance class that Guangdong Dance School cooperated with the American Dance Festival. From then on, you began to dance. Now you have won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the American Dance Festival. How do you feel?
Shen Wei: I feel too many. After all, performing arts runs through my life. The first time I performed on stage was 6 years old, and I was in my 50s to win this award. I have spent a lot of time working hard for art in my life, and getting this award now is also an affirmation of my struggles in the first half of my life.
I keep moving forward, never stopping, and rarely looking back. After seeing this, I found that I have created so many works, been to so many places, and communicated with so many audiences. All of these experiences suddenly appeared in front of my eyes, which was very moving. I am deeply moved by the appreciation and recognition of the American Dance Festival for your contribution to society, contribution to mankind and artistic creation.
The Paper: The American Dance Festival evaluates you as both a visual magician and a technological innovator. What do you think?
Shen Wei: There are many different comments. The American Dance Festival will be celebrating its 90th anniversary next year. They have concentrated research on choreographers from all over the world. They have experience and certain authority. Their recognition is still important to a Chinese.
The Paper: Do you also have the feeling of winning glory for your country?
Shen Wei: Yes, this feeling is stronger abroad. Others will look at you from the perspective of "you represent the Chinese", and you will tell yourself in everything you do, don't embarrass yourself, don't embarrass the Chinese, and do it well. Especially like me, when people see, talk about, click on, and comment on, they are linked to your history, your culture, and your background.
Shen Wei: There are many. Competing with foreigners in an unfamiliar place, you don't know their culture, you have to learn more, master more, and pay more, in order to get the opportunity and let people recognize you.
You see my success abroad, why is it successful? In fact, it's not easy, let alone born. I have no money or background. I started everything from scratch and got it through all kinds of hard work.
The Paper: Did you find it particularly difficult over the years?
Shen Wei: Difficult, it has never stopped. Even if I created "Summary" at the American Dance Festival today, I still find it difficult, because every time I want to break through, I want to sublimate all the experiences I have accumulated in the past.
Running alone all over the world and going to work in different places, I have to overcome many difficulties in life, and I also have to overcome the difficulties of dealing with different people. After all, people have different cultural backgrounds.
But I am not afraid of difficulties. After decades of honing, for me, there is nothing difficult in the world, as long as I am interested in doing it, it will not stumped me.
The Paper: In addition to the difficulties in creation, you also mentioned the difficulties in life, which I rarely heard from you before.
Shen Wei: I met my friends yesterday, and they couldn't believe it. I always buy and cook food by myself. I go out to buy food at least twice a week, and I don't ask my aunt to clean the house. I do it myself. Furniture, curtains, pillows, I also do it myself. For the curtains in Paris and New York, I go to the cloth store to buy the fabric and color I like, cut and sew by myself.
My ability to live is very strong, and if you put me in any country, it can definitely be done by one person.
I am completely independent in life, just like in creation, I must have the ability to face everything independently in order to control the whole, and relying on others will be very passive. I am used to coming and going alone, usually without an assistant, unless it is necessary for work, I will use one for a short time.
Taking care of my life completely by myself has also given me a space to think independently. Doing housework can also allow me to change my mind, relax my state, regulate my emotions, and experience life.
The Paper: You are used to being alone, but your job requires you to deal with all kinds of people, will it be painful?
Shen Wei: So I am always alone in my life, because I am afraid of noise. I have a quieter, more occult personality, and I don't like socializing or group life. I deal with too many people at work, which is actually very energy-intensive. After work, I hope to have an independent personal space.
The Paper: Looking back, when you went to New York to develop alone in 1995, did you feel that you were very brave at that time? Did you have any worries and fears about the future at that time?
Shen Wei: Why are you all willing to be young people? Seeing difficulties without fear may be the only benefit of impulsiveness for young people.
At that time, I left Guangzhou to go to the United States. I also prepared for a long time and faced many challenges. I was thinking about how to face it and how to survive. I was very excited and excited to think that I could exercise and learn in a new environment. At that time, I had nothing, and my English was not good, so I put myself in the most passive state to face everything. Because you are young, you are aggressive, you do not find it difficult, and the idea of challenging yourself is also very strong. When you are older, you will be more relaxed in doing things, not as brave as you were when you were young.
The Paper: Are you grateful to yourself back then?
Shen Wei: I am very grateful for my thirst for knowledge. I am willing to pay the price in order to learn something. Calligraphy, opera, Chinese painting, oil painting, dance... Every time I learn something new, I have to face new challenges. My curiosity makes me patient and resilient.
I left my parents at the age of 9 to go to the Hunan Provincial Art School, and I only return to my parents' house twice a year. From a young age, I lived alone, sewed and mended by myself, without being spoiled, and exercised an independent learning spirit.
My sensitivity to beauty has also been gradually learned and cultivated. From calligraphy, opera, Chinese painting, oil painting, dance, and film, all of them have subtly improved my understanding of beauty.
The Paper: Do you have any regrets so far?
Shen Wei: Regret is that I am afraid that I didn't do the desk work well when I was creating. If I don't have enough time, you will not learn enough.
The Paper: In 2021, your immersive art scene "Rong" will be a sensation in Shanghai, and 10 performances are full. Are you inspired?
Shen Wei: The creative process of Rong was very difficult. When it comes to "Book of Changes", you may soon think of black and white gossip, and there are rules and regulations in your mind. I present the relationship between people and the world from another perspective, and use modern artistic expressions to convey the most profound philosophical thoughts of traditional Chinese culture. and worldview.
Anyone who has seen it knows that its size, its content, its depth, and its richness are not something that can be easily accomplished by simply gathering a group of people.
I closed in a small town in Lingshui, Hainan for 5 months. I brought a few boxes of books and studied while reading. When I got tired, I would draw and play the piano for a while. I don't know or see anyone there, the sea is outside the window, and if I want to buy food and cook, I have to take a taxi to go out. What's more difficult is that the team that has followed me for many years is stuck in New York and Paris, and I have to rebuild the production team and use a new cast in Shanghai, all of which require running-in.
Because one of my major solo exhibitions was closing at the Isabella Garner Museum of Art in Boston, I left early and didn't follow every performance of the show. The final response was so good, very happy! The Shanghai audience was very enthusiastic, and it also mobilized the enthusiasm of many people to think about problems with a different way of thinking.
The Paper: "Rong" is divided into three parts: exhibition, video, and performance. The immersive performance in the third act is too shocking. Rarely have we had the experience of being so close to dancers, nervous, shy, and restless, but couldn't help being attracted to them and couldn't take our eyes off them.
Shen Wei: This is the most important point of live performances. Video and other performance methods can never be replaced. People with flesh and blood show artistic magnetic field and artistic power in front of you. You can see the three-dimensional and moving soul with your own eyes, which is more shocking than any art medium. Therefore, we must let the audience feel it at a close distance. It turns out that art can be so moving.
Humans are the main actors in this world, and they are very interesting high-level animals that can dig infinitely, like a mystery. The third act is to discuss the "unity of man and nature", with man as the center, each audience is not independent, they may forget themselves, they are completely integrated in it, and they have a dialogue with the environment and heaven and earth.
The Paper: You have a purpose in making "Rong", leading Chinese dancers to open up their bodies, broaden their minds, and finally feel that they have changed? Everyone speaks of you with respect from the heart.
Shen Wei: The changes are huge. I am very happy to see their progress and breakthroughs.
I have taught from the very first day, giving all my experience to them, treating them like their own children, allowing them to learn more in a very short period of time and realize what they have not discovered yet. more sides. During the rehearsal, I gave demonstrations myself, not verbally pointing, but they could feel my all-round commitment, dedication, and sincerity. We get along very well, they don't feel distant from me, they are inspired and inspired by the closeness, and they are very happy and enjoyable to dance.
The Paper: From 2014 to 2021, you will bring important works to Shanghai every two or three years, including dance and paintings. In the beginning your show attendance did not meet expectations, and now you have a lot of fans.
Shen Wei: Everything has a process of understanding. At first, people don't know much about it and may not care much. After reading it, it feels good. Once it is passed on from ten to ten, more people will come next time.
This is not overnight, but the result of long-term deliberation and long-term hard work. This state is only possible when we gradually build up understanding with the audience in Shanghai, our partners in Shanghai, and the cultural and art circle in Shanghai.
The Paper: Will there be more original works for Shanghai in the future, such as tailored works like Rong?
Shen Wei: There will definitely be. "Rong" may return to Shanghai next year. Last year's 10 games were full, and each game actually had an audience, but there were still many people who wanted to see it but didn't see it. At that time, I wanted to add the game, but it was too late in all aspects, because there were too many people involved. Hope to come back next year for more viewers to watch and experience, we have more experience, I will see where we can do better.
The performance is still held at the West Bank Dome Art Center. "Rong" was created to fit the circular space, because the architectural elements of the circle, the circle of the gossip and the concept of "heaven" in Chinese culture, must be such a space.
Shen Wei: With my artistic style, I will not make a narrative story work, but it must be about traditional Chinese culture and related to current civilization and human society.
I received the invitation at the beginning of the year, and I have been reading books. When I see it now, I read Su Shi's poems and life, and understand the environment and background at that time. I spent seven or eight months reviewing traditional Chinese culture, studying Chinese poetry, Chinese philosophy, Chinese aesthetics, and Chinese rhythm.
Without poetry, there would be no Su Shi. There are so many poems, how to choose and how to pass them on? Turning words in literature into dance and visual art is not easy.
When I found me, I was half excited and half worried, too difficult to touch. So much has been done in China, how can I present it? A lot of pressure. I have been fond of traditional Chinese culture since I was a child, and I think it is worthwhile and meaningful, so well, I accept the challenge. From directing, screenwriting, choreography to visual design, I have to do it myself, try to use all my past experience to work hard, and it is a big improvement to be able to make it.
After returning home at the end of August, I will stay for at least half a year. When I come back, I will continue to study. Many materials need to be checked in China. I have not yet selected actors, and have not yet formed a team. All aspects of creation are still zero.
My "Sheng Xi" also came out of Lao Tzu's words, no matter Chinese or foreigners, young or old, all like it. I hope to bring Chinese traditional culture to a larger and wider world.
The Paper: Now that you live in Paris, from New York to Paris, have the two arts brought you different nutrients?
Shen Wei: In 2017, I set up a space in Paris, with a residence and a studio. New York has it too, fly there when you have a job. I am very similar to Su Shi, he does not have a fixed home, I am also a home from all over the world, traveling back and forth between China, the United States, and Europe. He also likes calligraphy, painting, and food, and so do I. I love life very much.
Paris and New York are completely different. Art in New York is more focused on the present and the future, while Paris is more macroscopic and more historical. It has taken into account the past, present and future, because France has a long history, and it summarizes more and more comprehensive things.
The Paper: Tell us about your daily life in Paris.
Shen Wei: I would go to the park for a run at seven in the morning. I try to run three or four times a week. After the run, I go home to make breakfast, or eat on the road, and then come back to practice the guqin. Work in the morning, study, draw, write, and cut films. Sometimes I eat lunch at home, and it can be done in 15 minutes. Sometimes I buy a sandwich, read a book in the park and bask in the sun for an hour, and come back to play the piano. Continue working in the afternoon. Have a simple dinner at five o'clock, play the piano, sometimes go for a walk in the park, sometimes answer emails and WeChat, and handle administrative work. I watch the news at night, go to bed at 10:30, and go to bed at 9:00 when it is the hardest, because there are a lot of things to do when I wake up in the morning.
I also go out two or three times a week to buy groceries and take two French lessons, and I don't have enough time each day!
The Paper: When you're not working, do you take a walk in Paris, such as going to an exhibition at an art gallery or drinking coffee in a café?
Shen Wei: I see exhibitions, but not every day, at most once a week. After running in the morning, I drink coffee when I have breakfast by the roadside, but I don’t usually go out to drink. I have to work and I don’t have enough time. I came to Paris to create and study, not to drink coffee.
I don't see my friends very often, I see them at most once a month, sometimes every two or three months, and some of my friends don't see each other for half a year. I don't want to meet people in the middle of my creation and research, I want to stay in my own state and frequency, unless it is very important. I don't feel lonely, I'm not a child, I want to play with a group of people.
(Intern Lord Wang also contributed to this article)
In mid-July, 54-year-old Shen Weigang took home the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Dance Festival.
The Lifetime Achievement Award was originally planned to be awarded in 2020, but was postponed to 2022 due to the epidemic. Established in 1981, this award recognizes choreographers who have made outstanding contributions to modern dance and is the ultimate hall of fame in the modern dance world. Shen Wei is a rare Chinese dancer who has won this honor.
"Shen Wei is both a visual magician and a technological innovator." The American Dance Festival commented in the award speech: his works subtly integrate the influence of Eastern and Western cultures, and are not bound by the boundaries of culture and art, whether on stage or canvas , film or exhibition, installation, his works brilliantly fuse sensory and intellectual precision, visual design and physical energy, refusing to categorize, which can only be described with one word: Shen Wei.
Shen Wei receives the Lifetime Achievement Award with his paintings behind him.
After taking home the trophy, Shen Wei returned to Paris and plunged into the conception and creation of the dance drama "Dongpo".The olive branch of the commission came from the China Oriental Performing Arts Group and Meishan Song and Dance Theater, which had produced "Only Green". Shen Wei, who is also the director, screenwriter, choreographer, and visual designer, wanted to bring the poetry and sentiment of the Northern Song Dynasty scholar Su Shi to the stage.
"Half excited, half worried, it's too difficult to touch." After receiving the invitation at the beginning of the year, Shen Wei spent seven or eight months reviewing traditional Chinese culture. At the end of August, he will return to China and select actors from scratch , to form a team, and it is expected to hand over a new work full of oriental aesthetics at the beginning of next year.
Not surprisingly, on the road of creation, Shen Wei is alone again.
For a long time, the director, choreographer, choreographer, costume, and video vision in Shen Wei's works were almost all done by him, and he seldom hired someone to do it for him.
"It's not easy to find someone who has the same taste and creativity as you." Shen Wei said that his aesthetic awareness is all about his life experience. If the aesthetics of the collaborator is not on the same line as his, he will spend a lot of money on it. A lot of time to explain, to persuade, it is better to save time and energy.
Going into the world alone, from creation to life, Shen Wei is accustomed to being alone, facing everything alone, never feeling bitter or afraid of difficulties.
In 1990, Shen Wei created his first professional modern dance "The Sun Still Rises" in the modern dance experimental class of Guangdong Dance School. In 1995, Shen Wei went to New York alone. He was one of the pioneers of Chinese modern dance, and one of the earliest people who took the initiative to go abroad. In 2000, Shen Wei's "Ladder to Heaven" premiered at the American Dance Festival and became an instant hit. On the basis of these dancers, he established "Shen Wei Dance Art" and began to truly enter the mainstream Western artistic vision.
In 2014, Shen Wei, who has lived in New York for a long time, landed in Shanghai for the first time with "Sound of Hope" and "Rite of Spring". In 2021, Shen Wei's tailor-made "Rong" for Shanghai, which can be called an "artistic spectacle", became a sensation. Shen Wei and Shanghai are deeply bound together because of their artistic reunion.
Beautiful "crit", this is the intuitive feeling of many people after reading Shen Wei's works. He rarely looks back and can't count how many works he has created. The only thing he can be sure of is, "I'm still very young, and I won't stop creating."
Even if honors are waiting for him, and high-quality products come out one after another, he will still be nervous and put a lot of pressure on himself every time there is a new work in the row. For decades, Shen Wei has maintained the sincerity that many people lack in his creative attitude.
"Improve self-cultivation, music, culture, aesthetics, study, study, study again." His advice to young people is very practical, be patient, don't rush for success, and enjoy the life process of being an artist, not for the purpose And the purpose.
"Summary" is commissioned by the American Dance Festival and will have its world premiere at the Lifetime Achievement Award Ceremony in July 2022. Photography: Den McKeown © ADF
"Don't embarrass the Chinese people, but strive for success"The Paper: At the awards ceremony of the American Dance Festival, your "Summary" made its world premiere. This new work combines your dance and painting, as beautiful as ever.
Shen Wei: This was commissioned by the American Dance Festival. The other party asked if he could publish a new work on the day of the awards. I said no problem. I picked 9 dancers I didn't know to train there and stayed for over a month.
This work has an artistic summary, and has accumulated my experience over the past many years, including my relationship with painting, with vision, and with dance movements, all of which are presented just right.
The work is 21 minutes long. It is small and refined. It is very engaging and interesting. I will find it interesting after watching it many times. I am very happy and comfortable every time I watch it. Dancers also like to dance, after all, I have been studying how to use my body for so many years.
There are several paragraphs in the work, but the whole thing does not feel like a segment. The visual changes and the movement also changes, and it is always flowing. Four paintings are projected in the depths of the stage, which I have painted in the past two years, and also represent a summary of my past. The original two paintings were also exhibited at the ceremony.
The Paper: In 1989, you were admitted to the modern dance class that Guangdong Dance School cooperated with the American Dance Festival. From then on, you began to dance. Now you have won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the American Dance Festival. How do you feel?
Shen Wei: I feel too many. After all, performing arts runs through my life. The first time I performed on stage was 6 years old, and I was in my 50s to win this award. I have spent a lot of time working hard for art in my life, and getting this award now is also an affirmation of my struggles in the first half of my life.
I keep moving forward, never stopping, and rarely looking back. After seeing this, I found that I have created so many works, been to so many places, and communicated with so many audiences. All of these experiences suddenly appeared in front of my eyes, which was very moving. I am deeply moved by the appreciation and recognition of the American Dance Festival for your contribution to society, contribution to mankind and artistic creation.
The Paper: The American Dance Festival evaluates you as both a visual magician and a technological innovator. What do you think?
Shen Wei: There are many different comments. The American Dance Festival will be celebrating its 90th anniversary next year. They have concentrated research on choreographers from all over the world. They have experience and certain authority. Their recognition is still important to a Chinese.
The Paper: Do you also have the feeling of winning glory for your country?
Shen Wei: Yes, this feeling is stronger abroad. Others will look at you from the perspective of "you represent the Chinese", and you will tell yourself in everything you do, don't embarrass yourself, don't embarrass the Chinese, and do it well. Especially like me, when people see, talk about, click on, and comment on, they are linked to your history, your culture, and your background.
"Sound of Hope" 1999
"Ladder" 2000
"Rite of Spring" 2003
"Connection Conversion" 2005
"Map" 2005
The Paper: After going to the United States, you quickly stood out and started from a high starting point. Have you ever been treated differently because of Asian faces?Shen Wei: There are many. Competing with foreigners in an unfamiliar place, you don't know their culture, you have to learn more, master more, and pay more, in order to get the opportunity and let people recognize you.
You see my success abroad, why is it successful? In fact, it's not easy, let alone born. I have no money or background. I started everything from scratch and got it through all kinds of hard work.
The Paper: Did you find it particularly difficult over the years?
Shen Wei: Difficult, it has never stopped. Even if I created "Summary" at the American Dance Festival today, I still find it difficult, because every time I want to break through, I want to sublimate all the experiences I have accumulated in the past.
Running alone all over the world and going to work in different places, I have to overcome many difficulties in life, and I also have to overcome the difficulties of dealing with different people. After all, people have different cultural backgrounds.
But I am not afraid of difficulties. After decades of honing, for me, there is nothing difficult in the world, as long as I am interested in doing it, it will not stumped me.
The Paper: In addition to the difficulties in creation, you also mentioned the difficulties in life, which I rarely heard from you before.
Shen Wei: I met my friends yesterday, and they couldn't believe it. I always buy and cook food by myself. I go out to buy food at least twice a week, and I don't ask my aunt to clean the house. I do it myself. Furniture, curtains, pillows, I also do it myself. For the curtains in Paris and New York, I go to the cloth store to buy the fabric and color I like, cut and sew by myself.
My ability to live is very strong, and if you put me in any country, it can definitely be done by one person.
I am completely independent in life, just like in creation, I must have the ability to face everything independently in order to control the whole, and relying on others will be very passive. I am used to coming and going alone, usually without an assistant, unless it is necessary for work, I will use one for a short time.
Taking care of my life completely by myself has also given me a space to think independently. Doing housework can also allow me to change my mind, relax my state, regulate my emotions, and experience life.
The Paper: You are used to being alone, but your job requires you to deal with all kinds of people, will it be painful?
Shen Wei: So I am always alone in my life, because I am afraid of noise. I have a quieter, more occult personality, and I don't like socializing or group life. I deal with too many people at work, which is actually very energy-intensive. After work, I hope to have an independent personal space.
The Paper: Looking back, when you went to New York to develop alone in 1995, did you feel that you were very brave at that time? Did you have any worries and fears about the future at that time?
Shen Wei: Why are you all willing to be young people? Seeing difficulties without fear may be the only benefit of impulsiveness for young people.
At that time, I left Guangzhou to go to the United States. I also prepared for a long time and faced many challenges. I was thinking about how to face it and how to survive. I was very excited and excited to think that I could exercise and learn in a new environment. At that time, I had nothing, and my English was not good, so I put myself in the most passive state to face everything. Because you are young, you are aggressive, you do not find it difficult, and the idea of challenging yourself is also very strong. When you are older, you will be more relaxed in doing things, not as brave as you were when you were young.
The Paper: Are you grateful to yourself back then?
Shen Wei: I am very grateful for my thirst for knowledge. I am willing to pay the price in order to learn something. Calligraphy, opera, Chinese painting, oil painting, dance... Every time I learn something new, I have to face new challenges. My curiosity makes me patient and resilient.
I left my parents at the age of 9 to go to the Hunan Provincial Art School, and I only return to my parents' house twice a year. From a young age, I lived alone, sewed and mended by myself, without being spoiled, and exercised an independent learning spirit.
My sensitivity to beauty has also been gradually learned and cultivated. From calligraphy, opera, Chinese painting, oil painting, dance, and film, all of them have subtly improved my understanding of beauty.
The Paper: Do you have any regrets so far?
Shen Wei: Regret is that I am afraid that I didn't do the desk work well when I was creating. If I don't have enough time, you will not learn enough.
"Picture Scroll" 2008
"Divided and Combined" 2011
"Still Moving" 2011
"Bran Poetry" 2013
"Neither Each Other" 2016
"The Man in the Garden" 2017
"Man is an interesting high animal, like a mystery"The Paper: In 2021, your immersive art scene "Rong" will be a sensation in Shanghai, and 10 performances are full. Are you inspired?
Shen Wei: The creative process of Rong was very difficult. When it comes to "Book of Changes", you may soon think of black and white gossip, and there are rules and regulations in your mind. I present the relationship between people and the world from another perspective, and use modern artistic expressions to convey the most profound philosophical thoughts of traditional Chinese culture. and worldview.
Anyone who has seen it knows that its size, its content, its depth, and its richness are not something that can be easily accomplished by simply gathering a group of people.
I closed in a small town in Lingshui, Hainan for 5 months. I brought a few boxes of books and studied while reading. When I got tired, I would draw and play the piano for a while. I don't know or see anyone there, the sea is outside the window, and if I want to buy food and cook, I have to take a taxi to go out. What's more difficult is that the team that has followed me for many years is stuck in New York and Paris, and I have to rebuild the production team and use a new cast in Shanghai, all of which require running-in.
Because one of my major solo exhibitions was closing at the Isabella Garner Museum of Art in Boston, I left early and didn't follow every performance of the show. The final response was so good, very happy! The Shanghai audience was very enthusiastic, and it also mobilized the enthusiasm of many people to think about problems with a different way of thinking.
The Paper: "Rong" is divided into three parts: exhibition, video, and performance. The immersive performance in the third act is too shocking. Rarely have we had the experience of being so close to dancers, nervous, shy, and restless, but couldn't help being attracted to them and couldn't take our eyes off them.
Shen Wei: This is the most important point of live performances. Video and other performance methods can never be replaced. People with flesh and blood show artistic magnetic field and artistic power in front of you. You can see the three-dimensional and moving soul with your own eyes, which is more shocking than any art medium. Therefore, we must let the audience feel it at a close distance. It turns out that art can be so moving.
Humans are the main actors in this world, and they are very interesting high-level animals that can dig infinitely, like a mystery. The third act is to discuss the "unity of man and nature", with man as the center, each audience is not independent, they may forget themselves, they are completely integrated in it, and they have a dialogue with the environment and heaven and earth.
The Paper: You have a purpose in making "Rong", leading Chinese dancers to open up their bodies, broaden their minds, and finally feel that they have changed? Everyone speaks of you with respect from the heart.
Shen Wei: The changes are huge. I am very happy to see their progress and breakthroughs.
I have taught from the very first day, giving all my experience to them, treating them like their own children, allowing them to learn more in a very short period of time and realize what they have not discovered yet. more sides. During the rehearsal, I gave demonstrations myself, not verbally pointing, but they could feel my all-round commitment, dedication, and sincerity. We get along very well, they don't feel distant from me, they are inspired and inspired by the closeness, and they are very happy and enjoyable to dance.
The Paper: From 2014 to 2021, you will bring important works to Shanghai every two or three years, including dance and paintings. In the beginning your show attendance did not meet expectations, and now you have a lot of fans.
Shen Wei: Everything has a process of understanding. At first, people don't know much about it and may not care much. After reading it, it feels good. Once it is passed on from ten to ten, more people will come next time.
This is not overnight, but the result of long-term deliberation and long-term hard work. This state is only possible when we gradually build up understanding with the audience in Shanghai, our partners in Shanghai, and the cultural and art circle in Shanghai.
The Paper: Will there be more original works for Shanghai in the future, such as tailored works like Rong?
Shen Wei: There will definitely be. "Rong" may return to Shanghai next year. Last year's 10 games were full, and each game actually had an audience, but there were still many people who wanted to see it but didn't see it. At that time, I wanted to add the game, but it was too late in all aspects, because there were too many people involved. Hope to come back next year for more viewers to watch and experience, we have more experience, I will see where we can do better.
The performance is still held at the West Bank Dome Art Center. "Rong" was created to fit the circular space, because the architectural elements of the circle, the circle of the gossip and the concept of "heaven" in Chinese culture, must be such a space.
"Rong" is commissioned by the China Shanghai International Arts Festival Center and will have its world premiere at the Shanghai West Bund Dome Art Center in June 2021. The Paper reporter Li Sijie
The Paper: Invited by China Oriental Performing Arts Group and Meishan City Song and Dance Theater, you will return to China to create "Dongpo" at the end of August. What kind of Chinese work will you bring to everyone?Shen Wei: With my artistic style, I will not make a narrative story work, but it must be about traditional Chinese culture and related to current civilization and human society.
I received the invitation at the beginning of the year, and I have been reading books. When I see it now, I read Su Shi's poems and life, and understand the environment and background at that time. I spent seven or eight months reviewing traditional Chinese culture, studying Chinese poetry, Chinese philosophy, Chinese aesthetics, and Chinese rhythm.
Without poetry, there would be no Su Shi. There are so many poems, how to choose and how to pass them on? Turning words in literature into dance and visual art is not easy.
When I found me, I was half excited and half worried, too difficult to touch. So much has been done in China, how can I present it? A lot of pressure. I have been fond of traditional Chinese culture since I was a child, and I think it is worthwhile and meaningful, so well, I accept the challenge. From directing, screenwriting, choreography to visual design, I have to do it myself, try to use all my past experience to work hard, and it is a big improvement to be able to make it.
After returning home at the end of August, I will stay for at least half a year. When I come back, I will continue to study. Many materials need to be checked in China. I have not yet selected actors, and have not yet formed a team. All aspects of creation are still zero.
My "Sheng Xi" also came out of Lao Tzu's words, no matter Chinese or foreigners, young or old, all like it. I hope to bring Chinese traditional culture to a larger and wider world.
The Paper: Now that you live in Paris, from New York to Paris, have the two arts brought you different nutrients?
Shen Wei: In 2017, I set up a space in Paris, with a residence and a studio. New York has it too, fly there when you have a job. I am very similar to Su Shi, he does not have a fixed home, I am also a home from all over the world, traveling back and forth between China, the United States, and Europe. He also likes calligraphy, painting, and food, and so do I. I love life very much.
Paris and New York are completely different. Art in New York is more focused on the present and the future, while Paris is more macroscopic and more historical. It has taken into account the past, present and future, because France has a long history, and it summarizes more and more comprehensive things.
The Paper: Tell us about your daily life in Paris.
Shen Wei: I would go to the park for a run at seven in the morning. I try to run three or four times a week. After the run, I go home to make breakfast, or eat on the road, and then come back to practice the guqin. Work in the morning, study, draw, write, and cut films. Sometimes I eat lunch at home, and it can be done in 15 minutes. Sometimes I buy a sandwich, read a book in the park and bask in the sun for an hour, and come back to play the piano. Continue working in the afternoon. Have a simple dinner at five o'clock, play the piano, sometimes go for a walk in the park, sometimes answer emails and WeChat, and handle administrative work. I watch the news at night, go to bed at 10:30, and go to bed at 9:00 when it is the hardest, because there are a lot of things to do when I wake up in the morning.
I also go out two or three times a week to buy groceries and take two French lessons, and I don't have enough time each day!
The Paper: When you're not working, do you take a walk in Paris, such as going to an exhibition at an art gallery or drinking coffee in a café?
Shen Wei: I see exhibitions, but not every day, at most once a week. After running in the morning, I drink coffee when I have breakfast by the roadside, but I don’t usually go out to drink. I have to work and I don’t have enough time. I came to Paris to create and study, not to drink coffee.
I don't see my friends very often, I see them at most once a month, sometimes every two or three months, and some of my friends don't see each other for half a year. I don't want to meet people in the middle of my creation and research, I want to stay in my own state and frequency, unless it is very important. I don't feel lonely, I'm not a child, I want to play with a group of people.
(Intern Lord Wang also contributed to this article)
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