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Huang Doudou, the artistic director and principal dancer of the Shanghai Song and Dance Ensemble. |
Perhaps no other city in China is as blessed as Shanghai. The most vibrant and cosmopolitan city on the Chinese mainland, it is the indisputable leader in both economic development and cultural innovation.
With style, flair and an attitude peppered with a trace of defiance, Shanghai is a hotbed for businesses and finance, as well as a source of inspiration for artistic creation, attracting high-profile businessmen and renowned artists and celebrities. The city is home to those Chinese who see it as a paradise for the fulfilment of their dreams, as well as a rapidly expanding group of expatriates coming to work and live here.
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Vincent Lo, the Hong Kong tycoon who helped build Xintiandi, Shanghai's new landmark district. |
Nor are Westerners likely to feel too much like outsiders. Look at The Bund, the city's most famous waterfront boulevard, lined with Art Deco buildings and a new redevelopment project like Xintiandi. Westerners and Easterners find their respective cultural elements in perfect fusion here. For artists and businessmen alike, this means that a proper balance between tradition and modernity is the key to understanding the character of the city.
Few people know the modern Shanghai better than Vincent Lo, the Hong Kong tycoon who helped shape the trend and built Xintiandi, the enclave that defines the chic and the cool. Xintiandi, which means "new heaven and earth", is the jet-set's Disneyland.
This hot district of clubs, restaurants and boutiques has become the city's new landmark with its impeccable blend of cultural elements from East and West, past and present.
Lo, chairman of Shui On Group which developed the project in 1997, says his purpose was to preserve the history and architecture of Shanghai and at the same time create elements of a modern lifestyle.
The artistic fusion, which turned out to be a hot spot for bourgeoisie splendor, is imbued with the city's historical and cultural legacies as over half of Shanghai people have one time or another lived in stone gate housing, according to Lo.
"Westerners see a lot of Chinese elements in Xintiandi and Chinese people see a lot of Western ideas," he says. "Old people feel nostalgia and young people believe it is trendy. So we've been able to create something that offers something to everyone."
Lo is not the only man who has been inspired by Shanghai.
Huang Doudou, one of the greatest dancers and choreographers in China, says the city is the real engine behind his relentless exploration into new forms of expression in his dancing.
Born in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, 31-year-old Huang has been living in Shanghai since he was 12. He used to be quite shy, since he could not speak the local dialect he soon found the city embraced different cultures and backgrounds, and more importantly, success was possible regardless of one's identity.
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Kunqu artist Zhang Jun has taken a bold step to stage a joint concert with Belgian pop-jazz pianist Jean-Francois Maljean in July. File photos |
Now the artistic director and principal dancer of the Shanghai Song and Dance Ensemble, he specializes in Chinese folk dancing but nevertheless explores different genres, which is why he danced with world-famous Chinese ballerina Tan Yuanyuan in a new experimental performance named Fusion.
"I try to bring alive the dialogue between different cultures as represented by traditional Chinese dancing and ballet," says the handsome Huang. "I attribute this inspiration to the city of Shanghai, which is a melting pot, celebrating differences, changes and innovation for all time. I can always feel the vibrancy and the motivation of the place. People here have a genuine wish to do well and do better for themselves in future."
Put another way, everything traditional in Shanghai has the potential to be reborn as new and modern, without undermining its essential cultural legacy.
Shanghainese Kunqu artist Zhang Jun has taken a bolder step in this respect.
As deputy director of the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, he staged a joint concert with Belgian pop-jazz pianist Jean-Francois Maljean in July, in which the two artists, despite different languages and professions, worked together to give the ancient Chinese art form a modern twist.
The concert was a breakthrough for Kunqu, with a far wider spectrum of audiences introduced to the 600-year-old traditional opera.
For Zhang, nowhere else in China would have given him the inspiration to try such a daunting task. He says he is deeply influenced by his home city's rapid change, its dynamism and the widely celebrated can-do spirit. The fashion in Shanghai is almost synchronous with that of London and Tokyo, he says, and the tremendous recent progress of musical plays and modern drama in Shanghai has also given him new confidence to try out new forms of expression for Kunqu Opera in order to boost its popularity.
"In Shanghai you have the feeling that everything is possible," says Zhang, himself a perfect example of the blend of modern and traditional, his trendy attire and hairstyle a sharp contrast to the general impression of a Kunqu artist on stage. "It's a paradise for adventurers, where you can realize your dreams. The city has a mesmerizing power which attracts people to follow its beat."
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He instinctively chose Shanghai. With its access to Western culture and a relatively more open market economy, the city readily endorsed Shang's experiment of highlighting characters and stage settings.
"The greatest feature of Peking Opera is its openness to different cultural elements." Shang says. "Shanghai is more tolerant in this regard. It is open for change and is always looking for cultural diversity. I owe my success to the city."
In many people's minds, Shanghai is a name that bears a nostalgic touch. Today, nothing is lost in the charm of the city despite the mind-boggling changes that have taken place. Shanghai-based Dragon TV host Cao Kefan puts it like this: Shanghai is the right place for legends.
(China Daily 08/28/2008 page18)
