Faces of JUE: Gao Yan Jinzi Talks Performance

In our March issue, we talked to seven personalities of the JUE Festival to tell us more about each of the seven elements of JUE. Dancer Gao Yan Jinzi tells us what the meaning of jue has to do with modern dance.

The word jue has three different meanings. The first is essentially the expansion of ideas. The second is a feeling you have within the arts – how the arts make you feel. And the final one is “to sleep.” I feel like I embody each of these through my art.

Oftentimes we adapt old Chinese folk stories into a modern dance. There’s a lot of Chinese philosophical concepts involved, themes like Daoism and Buddhism, the concept of reincarnation. There’s often also a close link to themes of nature.

Modern contemporary dancers – what they’re looking for is spiritual well-being, to make people happy through their art, and to help other people find themselves. You don’t need shoes and you can wear any clothing. We dance anywhere. We can dance on rocks!