Diva in motion

Sheu Fang-yi (left) and Zhu Yan attend a Beijing event to promote the production My Heart. [Photo provided to China Daily]

As for My Heart, a couple of young contemporary dancers, including Li Xing and Liu Liwei, whom Sheu met at festivals organized by the NCPA in the past few years, will join in the production.

What excites Sheu most is the participation of Zhu Yan, the principal dancer of the National Ballet of China. The two dancers will tell the story of a woman who experiences her life traveling the world.

In December, Sheu was in the audience when Zhu performed in Beijing, the leading role in the two-act ballet La Chauve-Souris choreographed by Roland Petit.

Then they met again during rehearsals of the national ballet and after a brief talk, Sheu asked Zhu to join in her new production.

"When I saw her (Zhu) dancing in the rehearsal room and taking off her ballet shoes, I felt more connected. She is sincere and focused when she dances, which I really appreciate," says Sheu. "We have lots of similarities, such as our personalities and attitudes toward art."

For Zhu, who has been dancing with the NBC since 1995 and performed leading roles in most of the classical ballets, including Swan Lake and Don Quixote, the idea of participating in a contemporary dance production was both challenging and alluring.

"I was thinking about some change after being a ballerina for 20 years. Sheu's invitation came right on time," says Zhu, who flew to Taiwan earlier this year to train with Sheu.

Zhu says she wasn't sure at the beginning of the training if she could do it, as modern dance is different from classical ballet.

"Thanks to Sheu, I gained a different perspective on dancing."

For Sheu, what matters to her as a dancer-choreographer now is to discover more possibilities about herself by working with other dancers from diverse dancing styles.

Born in Yilan county in Taiwan, Sheu always loved dancing though her family was initially against the idea, she says.

At 19, she made the decision to become a professional dancer after Ross Parkes, former lead dancer of Martha Graham Dance Company, spotted talent in her.

"For the first time in my life, someone said that I had potential. I worked very hard to become a dancer," Sheu says.

After graduating from Taipei National University of the Arts with a bachelor's degree in dance, Sheu went to New York on a scholarship to study at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance.

In 1995, she joined the platform, becoming a soloist two years later and was promoted to principal dancer in two more years.