Yang Liping: Dancing South of the Clouds 杨丽萍：舞在云之南

白族舞蹈艺术家杨丽萍近日获由凤凰卫视联合海内外十余家知名华文媒体和机构共同评选的"影响世界华人大奖"提名。
Yang Liping, a dance artist from the Bai ethnic group, was nominated for the You-Bring-Charm-to-the-World Award issued by Phoenix Satellite Television along with over 10 other well-known Chinese media and institutions from home and abroad.
她的表演堪称"完美无瑕"，她可以轻而易举地把你带入一个由她编织的仙境里，无论你有多么理性，无论你对舞蹈多么陌生，你都有一种感觉，仿佛自己就身处于她的那个世界里；她身上有一种深不可测的魔力，一举一动，哪怕是一个休止符，都有如微风从一泓止水上空掠过，寂静的身体里，从此便有了细浪追逐的声音；她的舞很纯很纯，好像离现实的炊烟很远很远，但又离我们心灵所渴求的东西很近很近。她是一位真正的"舞蹈诗人"。她就是舞在云之南的杨丽萍。
Her performance has been quoted as "perfect". She can bring you easily to her own fairy land, wher you will have the feeling of really being there, no matter how sensible, how unfamiliar you are with dancing; she wields an unfathomable kind of magic, which works in her movements or even a pause, turning it into a trace of breeze flying upon a pool of stagnant water after which waves-chasing sound echoes in our silent souls; her dance is extremely pure as if far away from real life; however, it is exactly what our hearts yearn for. She is a "dancing poet" in the true sense. It is she-Yang Liping, the dancer south of the clouds.
至真至爱至情至性的舞者
The most genuine, affectionate, emotional dancer
认识杨丽萍的人，都知道她的个性。她对舞蹈爱得深沉，她对云南爱的 热烈。从最早的《雀之灵》，到后来的《月光》、《两棵树》，还有近几年的《云南印象》、《藏谜》、《云南的响声》，她所有的作品都是围绕云南在做。她说，"云南是一片神奇的土地，它有数不清、用不完的民族文化资源，它本身就是一块瑰丽的宝石，虽然我去了很多地方采风，将很多大家不常见甚至即将消逝的东西搜罗了出来，但这些于整个云南而言，也只不过是九牛一毛，这么好的东西，又是我熟悉的，你说我怎么还会想去做别的题材呢？光这些我毕生也弄不完……"
Those who know about Yang Liping must understand her personality. She deeply loves dancing and falls passionately for Yunnan. From her earliest works Spirit of the Peacock, Moonlight and Two Tresses subsequently all the way to her recent works including The Impression of Yunnan, The Mystery of the Tibetans and The Sound of Yunnan, all of her works have the theme of Yunnan. She says, "Yunnan is a magical land, enjoying numerous and inexhaustible folk cultural resources. Yunnan itself is just like a glamorous diamond. Although many rare or even disappearing Yunnan elements have been collected during my visits, the elements are merely a dro in the bucket in terms of the whole of Yunnan. With the wonderful topics with which I am familiar, why would I ever want to do another subject? I could spend my whole life studying just these."
杨丽萍的作品表面上看兜兜转转说的都是云南文化，但事实上并不那么简单。她觉得自己选择的都是触及灵魂的题材，而且舞蹈本身也蕴含着哲理，比如《藏谜》中体现的就是藏族人的生死观，有生必有死，不恐惧，很安详，精神不悲伤，更多是感受生命的可贵；《云南印象》体现的是一种原生态的民族风貌，一种自然的大爱；而《云南的响声》有着更多的诗情画意，有着诗歌的韵律。舞蹈的肢体动作并不复杂，但她希望观众能从中体会出生命本真的意义。
It seems that Yang Liping's works are just about Yunnan culture, but matter-of-factly her work has never been that simple. She feels that the subjects she has chosen are all close to people's hearts and that dancing itself contains philosophy. The Mystery of the Tibetans shows the values of life and death of the Tibetans, for example that one is destined for death, so we should not fear it. Instead, we should feel peaceful in a happy spirit and feel the preciousness of life in a deeper format. The Impression of Yunnan symbolizes the original folk images and her love for nature, while The Sound of Yunnan is more poetic and rhythmic. With no complicated dancing movements, she hopes the audience can feel the original meaning of life.

在杨丽萍所有的作品中，有一部最"长青"，那就是2003年推出的《云南印象》，迄今为止已经演了3000千多场，足迹遍布国内四十多个城市及美国、日本，阿根廷、巴西等海外五十多个国家和地区，不少铁杆粉丝还各地追着看。据杨丽萍自己透露，如果没有什么意外，这部作品应该还会一直演下去。问杨丽萍，作品为何会如此受欢迎？她笑道，"好看呗，他们愿意买票来看，就说明他们喜欢，喜欢才会来看你的演出。"
Amongst all of Yang Liping's works, The Impression of Yunnan, first performed in 2003, is the "evergreen" piece, which has been performed over 3,000 times so far in over 40 Chinese cities and 50 foreign countries and districts including the United States of America, Japan, Argentina and Brazil, drawing quite a few fans who follow from one place to another. According to Yang Liping herself, the work should continue to be shown to audiences as scheduled. Asked about the popularity of her work, Yang Liping replied with a smile, "Because my performances are enjoyable, people are willing to pay for the tickets. In turn, it means they like my performances, so they come to see my dancing."
舞蹈将贯穿我的整个生命
Dancing runs through my entire life
说到不跳舞之后的打算，杨丽萍也很淡然，"那就编舞嘛。世界上有很多优秀的编舞 ，他们都不上台，就在家里跳，这并不意味着舞蹈生涯的结束，还是一样在延续，只不过是用不同的方式而已。我跳了这么久了，以后我的生活也不会离开舞蹈，舞蹈是贯穿我的整个生命的。"
Speaking of her plans for after retirement from dancing, Yang Liping looked calm and said, "Then I will do choreography. There are many excellent choreographers in the world who work behind the screen and just dance at home. However, not dancing on stage does not mean an end to a dancing career, but continuity in a different format. I have danced this long, and I will not be able to live without dancing in the future either, because dancing has been running through my entire life."