Making a song & dance about it

In the end of 2020, the dance piece, titled Ren Xiao Yao, (unfettered happiness), premiered at the theater of the Beijing Dance Academy, featuring Wan and her students as performers.

On August 12 and 13, it will be restaged at the Damai Super Theater in Beijing.

Renowned Chinese author and scholar Lin Yutang (1895-1976) once translated Xiao Yao You into English and the title is A Happy Excursion. It tells stories of various length highlighting the idea of spiritual.

"When I look back on the days during the pandemic, it feels like an experience of spending more time with myself and communicating with myself. All the complicated emotions seem to be normal but in the end, what I am looking for is spiritual freedom," says Wan. "No matter how hard the reality is, I try to keep myself calm and collected."

The rehearsal of Ren Xiao Yao, Wan recalls, was unusual.

Most of her dance works are performed by her students from one class. However, Ren Xiao Yao gathers students from different years including choreography, contemporary dance and stage design. It even has graduates from the university hoping to join in the piece.