Chengwu Guo was just a child when he left his home to study dance. Now he is an audience favourite in Australia.
Australian Ballet soloist Chengwu Guo was just 10 years old when, as an only child, he left his parents’ home in Jiangxi province in southern China to train at the Beijing Dance Academy (BDA).
“When I auditioned for BDA, it seemed like there were millions of us and only two or three got through,” he recalls. “I was only 10, so I wasn’t nervous; I was just excited at the possibility of going to Beijing!”
Guo was accepted, and travelled to Beijing to train.
And is training in China really like it has been portrayed in films like Mao’s Last Dancer (in which Guo played the teenage Li Cunxin)? That incredibly strict, military-like discipline? “It is still like it was for Li, like it was shown in Mao’s Last Dancer. It was a very tough, very hard life,” Guo says. “I just came back from Beijing recently for a holiday. I went to BDA to visit my teachers and watched a few classes. It's still very strict like the army - but it’s also still very impressive.”
It’s no secret that the Chinese schools produce dancers with extremely impressive technique. Guo says that the focus at BDA was very strictly on technique, as opposed to musicality and artistry. “At BDA we were more focussed on technique, strength, leg line, feet line and jumps,” says Guo. “In Australia we focus on technique and artistry, such as upper body lines, stage acting, storytelling, musicality and partnering.”
But Guo thinks that this emphasis on technique at the expense of artistry in China is to the detriment of the audience. “The audience sees your face first; they’re not professionals, they don’t care about your feet, they’ll be looking at your expression. Without your face, how can you explain a story?” he asks. “In Australia, we’re much more focused on telling a story beautifully.”
After winning a scholarship at the 2006 Prix de Lausanne, Guo chose to come to the Australian Ballet School in Melbourne. “All I knew were Chinese cities and the Chinese ballet company, so I asked my main teacher where I should request to do my scholarship, and he only said one word: "Australia". I didn't have much time to think about where I should go so I wrote down ‘Australian ballet school’ on the paper, which I am so glad I did.”
Guo came to Melbourne knowing only “hello” and “thank you” and quickly learned much more than the language. The relationships between teachers and students in Australia are completely different than in China, and it’s because of this, Guo thinks, that the countries produce such different dancers. “In Chinese culture we respect teachers as parents, we can’t say no to teachers, we wouldn’t argue back; we take what a teacher says because whatever a teacher says is right.”
He goes on to say: “At BDA you are constantly thinking, ‘am I a bad dancer, am I a bad student?’ because the teachers are so tough and critical. Some students would really let it affect them, they would think about it for hours after class and wouldn’t be able to eat, but I would try and take it on board, improve, work hard, and not let it upset me. I always kept a positive attitude, whereas some of my friends developed a negative attitude about the criticism.
“A BDA teachers never smiled or laughed. In Australia, Mr Baker (Dale Baker of the Australian Ballet School) made it fun. I still remember the first correction Mr Baker gave me was: ‘Smile Chen, relax’.” Guo remembers the other students laughing at him because he was so stiff. “That was the first time I felt the difference between China and Australia. People were laughing and joking in class! You take things in better when you’re more relaxed; here (in Australia) you’re able to mix what you’re taught in class with your own personality. In Beijing, if you show any personality in class, you are told, ‘why are you being so arrogant?’”
Despite this tough environment, Guo still keeps in touch with his teachers from BDA, explaining that “we say in Chinese culture if a man has been your teacher for one day then he is your father for your life”.
Guo moved from the ABS to the Australian Ballet, and even there, as a professional dancer rather than a student, still found it difficult to have the same relationships with his teachers that his colleagues do. “In Australia we talk to our teachers in a mature way – but I am still scared of them! Even now in the Australian Ballet, it took me about three years to talk to them normally. I like them and respect them, they’re all so nice... but I’m still a bit scared of them!” he admits.
Guo describes life in Australia and life with the Australian Ballet as “so sweet”. Winning the Telstra Dancer of the Year Award and People’s Choice Award last year was so exciting for Guo because “the faith and love from everyone in Australia means so much more than the prize”.
He loves Australia, and the opportunities it has given and continues to give him; he sees himself staying here forever. “In China, they can do so many turns, the technique is perfect, but you look at them on stage, and they look like broccoli, they look dead – there is no emotion. It’s broccoli! Lines of broccoli. I’m really glad I came to Australia. Otherwise I would have just been broccoli for the rest of my career.”
“My parents are coming to Australia next month to live with me permanently [Guo is using his TBDA winnings to finance their immigration visa]. I am an only child and left home when I was 10 so finally we can live together and I can enjoy some of mum's cooking.”
Presumably, no broccoli on the menu.
- ASTRID LAWTON
This article first appeared in the Apr/May 2012 edition of Dance Australia. Subscribe today!