When talking about the art of dance he loves so well, Jim Chen (Jun-Cheng Chen), the gold award winner of NTD Television’s 4th International Classical Chinese Dance Competition, glowed with delight. That delight radiates to audiences when Chen performs, giving people the feeling of sunshine and joy. He is, in his own word, “carefree,” and he brings this innocence into his performances.
Fulfilling His Dream
Mr. Chen was born into an artistic family as his parents are both dancers. In this environment, Chen grew interested in classical Chinese dance. “My parents’ behavior and morality has influenced me a lot,” Chen said. “I’ve learned from them that dancing is bringing goodness to others, so I started to learn dance from [when I was] little. I got a lot of help from my parents when learning dance.”As a child, Chen was sent to a dance school to learn ballet, but he always wanted to learn classical Chinese dance. “I especially liked the representational quality of classical Chinese dance, which I feel is particularly beautiful,” he said.
Due to its inherent expressive qualities, classical Chinese dance allows the performer to represent characters very easily.
“When I saw the authentic classical Chinese dance taught in New York Fei Tian Dance School, I became firmer in my desire to learn classical Chinese dance. I was admitted to Fei Tian Dance School in 2008. My dream of learning classical Chinese dance had come true,” Chen said.
In recent years, Chen has successfully represented many different characters on the stage, from a joyful little monk to the resourceful Monkey King, to the famous general Han Xin who in his youth endured all kinds of insults in order to accomplish important tasks later in life.
Chen believes that grasping differing roles depends on an in-depth understanding of the character’s background.
Dancers with mature skills can represent characters through the inner expression and the poses or movements of classical Chinese dance. “The role like the young monk has a distinctive character. His innocent and kindhearted characteristics are similar to mine. However, representing the bearing of Han Xin in his youth, who endured insults in order to accomplish important tasks, was a challenge for me.
“Before performing the role of Han Xin, I tried to grasp his life and background through reading and spent much time pondering the character and its inner expression. I practiced hard to integrate the skill, inner expression, and the pose and motion [of classical Chinese dance].”
Life-Long Learning
Classical Chinese dance, built on profound traditional aesthetics, has a history of several thousand years and is based on China’s divinely inspired culture.“In addition to mastering the skills for classical Chinese dance, the inner expression of the pose or motion of the dance is very important. I think it is the key to representing [characters in] orthodox classical Chinese dance. Furthermore, you must dare to use your imagination in your practice. With the increase of experience and practice, your skill will become better and better.”
“Skill is one aspect, but it is complemented by the enhancement of one’s spiritual development. Dancers have to focus on their inner cultivation and be people of high moral standard in order to perform well.”
Chen said that in classical Chinese dance “the learning never ends.” He will continue to work hard to improve the inner expression, the poses and movements, and the skills required. He will focus on increasing the quantity and also the quality of his movements. In sum, he will devote his whole life to a career in classical Chinese dance.
Chen encourages all the classical Chinese dance enthusiasts to participate in NTD Television’s 5th International Classical Chinese Dance Competition, held in New York at the end of October.
“Joining the competition is also an effort to spread the Chinese culture. It will introduce more people to the 5,000 years of Chinese culture. The participants can also get experience and improve. It is a rare opportunity. I hope more people can participate in it and promote the pure, good, and beautiful art of traditional dance.”
