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Huo Yaofei says it's passion, rather than technique, that has made him one of China's most sensational salsa dancers. Gan Tian reports.
Huo Yaofei is a star both inside and outside of the dance room of Beijing's Power House Gym.
Members ask for autographs and pose for photos with the 35-year-old before every class, because he's credited with bringing to Beijing Cuban salsa dancing, which has become hot in China in recent years.
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Huo Yaofei joins a local group dancing salsa at a club in Cuba. [Photo/PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY] |
Huo is the only Asian to win gold in the genre at the International Festival of Popular Dance of Cuba.
His classes aren't conventional — and he believes they shouldn't be.
Rather than teach techniques, he spins in the middle of the crowd and then rushes to the side to beat a giant wooden drum with his hands.
The class is more like a club where people party rather than study.
Huo got into salsa in 1999, as a Capital University of Physical Education and Sports student, where he took international ballroom dancing.
His teacher took him to Beijing's Salsa Cabana, where Huo was certain his "professional" moves would dazzle — but actually fizzled.
"There were many Latinos doing salsa," Huo recalls.
"I noticed their dancing wasn't for show but, rather, was spontaneous and natural."
He realized this is the soul of salsa.
"I'm most attracted to the spontaneity. I thought dancing was about presenting yourself, but it's actually organic."
He spent the following decades studying salsa, often picking up techniques from people he met in the clubs, many of whom were Latin American embassy employees or students.
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Huo Yaofei (center) teaches at a salsa dancing class at Beijing's Power House Gym. [Photo by JIANG DONG / CHINA DAILY] |
Huo became well-known for his salsa in the city, at a time when the dance was far from popular anywhere in the country. He started teaching it part time.
He taught freelance after graduation, unlike his classmates — most of whom landed full-time gigs as nurses or consultants.
"Chinese people still believed in iron rice bowls," he says, referring to stable jobs with regular pay.
"But I didn't want that. I wanted to teach salsa. Isn't that a decision that follows the dance's spirit? That is: Follow your gut and passions."
His bet paid off.
Most of his graduating class earned 3,000 yuan ($480) a month in 2000, while he was raking in 20,000 yuan.
In 2003, CCTV-5 — the State television broadcaster's sports channel — started a TV program in which Huo taught basic salsa steps.
But Huo lost his footing when SARS shut down all dance classes in Beijing that year.
He had no income and began re-thinking his career path.
A friend who worked at the Cuban embassy in the capital told him: "You must go to Cuba — salsa's birthplace."
So, Huo did.
"I wasn't the least bit disappointed," he says.
He majored in Latin music and folk dancing at Cuba's Instituto Superior de Artes for three years.
"Actually, I didn't learn anything about salsa at the school because everyone there already knew it naturally so they didn't teach it," Huo recalls.
"But I spent that time traveling to nearly every city in Cuba and observed every detail of their dancing and lifestyles."
He beat professional dancers from 40 countries to win the gold medal at the International Festival of Popular Dance, in Havana, Cuba, in 2005.
"A lot of foreigners know how to salsa," he explains.
"But many Cubans say they do it ‘no tenen sabor', or, ‘without feeling'."
Huo says he knew he'd won right after his performance — a premonition that came from the gut intuition he honed in Cuba.
"Most foreign salsa students, especially Chinese, are fascinated by the skills," he says.
"They're obsessed with the idea of how many spins and jumps they can pull off. But I found it was totally different in Havana. People danced with joy in their hearts. They love dancing and are optimistic about life."
Huo has adopted this optimism.
The Chinese dancer, who's fluent in Spanish, frequently travels to Cuba to improve his moves through learning how to enjoy life rather than through studying techniques.
"Salsa dancers must have a relaxed and open approach to life," he says.
Contact the writer at gantian@chinadaily.com.cn.
