Deeply connected with Liu Guofu’s paintings, acclaimed Chinese Contemporary dancer Yan Xiaoqiang, accompanied by renowned sound therapist Paul Yip presented a 15-minute long Chinese dance performance with modern twist, resonating with elegance and sophistication of Liu’s artwork.
About Yan Xiaoqiang
Yan Xiaoqiang, from China, is a celebrated dancer and choreographer with extensive teaching experience in dance. He joined the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) as Lecturer of Chinese Dance since August 2013 and has been MFA advisor since 2018.
As the founding dancer of the Beijing Dance Theater from 2008 to 2013, Yan danced all leading roles and has collaborated with renowned choreographers from around the world. His repertoire of styles ranges from Contemporary Dance, Ballet, Chinese Dance, Tai Chi, Kun Qu, Hip-hop and Drama Theatre. With the company, he has performed in many top festivals and theatres worldwide, including Sadler’s Wells, BAM Next Wave Arts Festival, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Holland Dance Festival, and Hong Kong Arts Festival.
Yan is also an active choreographer, creating works for Beijing Dance Theater, Shanghai Theater Academy, Wuhan Conservatory of Music, Guangzhou University, HKAPA and a Chinese Paintings Multimedia Exhibition at Zentrum Paul Klee of Bern, Switzerland. He focuses on the re-interpretation of Chinese traditional arts in a contemporary context and his critically acclaimed works including Martlet, Isle, Metropolis, Autumn Thoughts, Butterfly Lovers and Pulse, have been performed in various prestigious performing arts venues including the National Centre for Performing Arts in Beijing.
ABOUT paul yip
Paul Yip is the artistic director of IZEN Music and a sound therapist at NADA YOGA. Yip has been a sound designer for performing arts and film for over ten years. He has also collaborated with dancers, musicians, directors and artists in festivals in more than ten countries, including PGN Nordic Arts Festival (Norway), TPAM (Japan), BIDAM (Busan), Clockenflap Music Festival (Hong Kong), Boom Festival (Portugal), Samsara Festival (Hungary), and TEDx (Shenzhen). These collaborations have been focused on spiritual sound, cinematic soundscape, ambient noise, minimalist piano, abstract electronics, DJ-ing, multi-instrumental material and improvisation in pursuit of the aesthetics of sound.
Yip has been an artist-in-residence at Shin Eunju Dance Theatre in Busan and Tongji University in Shanghai. He has made soundtracks for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Australia, SEOP Dance Company (Korea), the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the film Raging Fire (featuring Donny Yen).