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Shanghai Beauty comes to Melbourne Jin Xing Dance Theatre

01 February 2010

“Probably the world’s best dancer” The Times, Germany
“A genius” The New York Times

Shanghai Beauty, a ground-breaking dance performance choreographed and performed by Jin Xing, China’s most famous and successful choreographer and the first transsexual recognized by the Chinese government, will be performed at the Arts Centre, State Theatre from 4 – 7 March 2010.

Shanghai Beauty addresses contrasting views of beauty and body between China and the west. The performance is the invention of Jin Xing, China’s leading force in contemporary dance and a former colonel in the People’s Liberation Army who was propelled to notoriety and stardom after undergoing a sex-change 15 years ago.

Born as a male, Jin Xing experienced strong transsexual desires early in life. Returning to China at age 26, Jin Xing underwent sex reassignment surgery to become the first transsexual recognized by the Chinese government. Her story has been made famous by the documentary Colonel Jin Xing: A Unique Destiny.

“I haven’t performed yet in Australia, but I know that in terms of culture Melbourne is probably the most active among all Australian cities. Therefore I’m very pleased as an artist that the Arts Centre – one of the leading venues in Australia – introduces my company to the sophisticated Melbourne audience.” said Jin Xing.

In Shanghai Beauty, the two opposing views of the body and the beautiful are examined through a cross-cultural choreography for 14 dancers who move as one. The performance features distinctive choreography exploring themes of new versus old, individuality versus conformity and east versus west.

Shanghai Beauty is a creation commissioned by the House of the World Cultures, Berlin and developed as a collaboration between China’s first independent dance ensemble, Jin Xing Dance Theatre Shanghai, and the German dance company Rubato.

Jin Xing’s biography as a dancer is as extraordinary as her personal life. She has studied modern dance technique at the schools of Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham in New York, and has taught and performed across Europe including La Biennale di Venezi, Dance Umbrella London and Impulstanz Vienna.

Jin Xing is recognised as the most significant choreographer in China and the director of the biggest independent dance group in the country. In 1996 she set up the Beijing Modern Dance Ensemble, the first modern dance troupe in Beijing, and in 2006 she founded the Shanghai Dance Festival as the first independent dance festival in China.

The performance is the first event in the Kenneth Myer Asian Theatre Series, a new biennial program from the Arts Centre that showcases outstanding contemporary Asian theatre works.

“Jin Xing tends to strike the most delicate string of the viewers’ hearts with her thrilling and daring movements”
Xinhuanet (Shanghai Star)

“Jin Xing suffuses a distinctly Western form with a unique Chinese perspective”
The Drama Review
Shanghai Beauty
the Arts Centre, State Theatre
4 – 7 March 2010
Tickets on sale now
$39 – $89
Bookings: www.theartscentre.com.au, 1300 182 183* or the Arts Centre Box Office
*transaction fee applies