Genesis takes dance to the roots

Wang is bringing Genesis to the ongoing 2013 Dance Festival of the National Center for the Performing Arts, which will continue until Nov 24. Audiences can enjoy 23 performances from home and abroad, including ballet and flamenco.

It's also a part of her annual series Yabin and Her Friends, which started in 2009, with the aim to offer opportunities for young Chinese dancers.

She began to work with international teams in 2011, such as American Dance Festival instructor and choreographer Mark Haim and Chinese-American Zhou Long, who won a Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Chinese and Belgian dancers to launch new Genesis world tour

According to Wang, Western and Chinese directors have different thinking patterns. For example, a Chinese director may want dancers of the same height and similar appearances, but Cherkaoui likes to have performers from different countries.

In Genesis, the seven performers are from China, the United States and Greece.

"Each of them has their own personality. When they work together, they can learn from each other. For example, Chinese dancers know how the body has to move and are incredibly flexible," Cherkaoui says. "Our generation has many masters, who have different ideas. We reconcile all these into a new way."

For him, the biggest difficulty is that he doesn't speak the Chinese language and sometimes it's not easy to express himself. But Wang helps him interpret.

"Body language is universal. Cherkaoui has a unique understanding of body movement. As we follow his method to explore, we have cultivated our potential greatly," Wang says.

"As dancers, we try to share our vision with others. Sometimes they understand and sometimes they don't. I may be inspired by others. Like love, it's the same with art. You just give your heart to it," Cherkaoui says.

Wang is confident about their work and her dream to bring Yabin and Her Friends to other countries.

Genesis will be on stage in Guangzhou and Shanghai in late November and tour European countries such as Germany, France and Italy from 2014 to 2015.