36 Modern pioneers

Modern pioneers36

PHOTO | ANDREW PARSONS/EYEVINE/PICTURE PRESSA dancer in a silent worldTriumphingover silenceFrom Milan’s La Scala to New York’s Carnegie Hall,Chinese Tai Lihua is celebrated on all the world’sgreatest stages. Like no other dancer, she isin step to the music – a music she will never hear.Tai Lihua as “The ThousandhandedGoddess of Mercy.”She is both principal dancerand choreographer ofthe China Disabled People’sPerforming Arts Troupe.37

Modern pioneersTai Lihua uses sign language to instruct members of the ensemble (left). On stage,the dancers put their instructions to work (above).Aperson can fight for their dreams as long asthey live,” signs Tai Lihua silently. Using herhands to communicate, the 34-year-old Chinesewoman’s use of sign language gives visualemphasis to her words.Tai Lihua is a true pioneer. She has explored unchartedwaters and, as a woman with disabilities, has achieved theunbelievable: just as much in the dance world as in society.Tai Lihua’s story begins with a fever. As a two-year-old,she fell terribly ill and had to take antibiotics, which resultedin a loss of hearing. Her parents did not realize whathad happened at first and assumed Tai Lihua was a slowdeveloper. The other children teased her unmercifully,for instance when blindfolded she was unable to recognizeher playmates by their voices. For deaf Tai Lihua, animpossible task.At seven, when Tai Lihua entered a school for the deaf,she had a life-altering experience. A teacher would beata drum to help the children understand rhythm. The younggirl felt the vibrations through the floor. “I was overwhelmedand touched the planks with my fingertips so that I couldexperience the beat more intensely,” she says. “The rhythmspread through my whole body. I felt my heart beat asone with the ground. From that moment on, I wanted tobe a dancer.”Tai Lihua’s parents gave her ballet shoes and she practiceduntil her feet hurt. At 15, she was discovered by the ChinaDisabled People’s Performing Arts Troupe, a renownedensemble of the visually and hearing impaired, and artistswith other physical disabilities. “They were all so good, I wasafraid I would not be able to keep up,” says Tai Lihua.She worked hard, never giving up. Tai Lihua got up atfive o’clock in the morning to rehearse with the Peking Opera.When she saw “The Soul of the Peacock,” choreographedby Chinese star Yang Liping, on television, Tai Lihua got herhands on all the video tapes and studied them carefully.Among her first audiences: Yang Liping herself. After a privatescreening, Yang Liping held a cloth over her face to hide hertears and told Tai Lihua, “You are incredible!”Tai Lihua has been the principal dancer and manager ofthe Chinese ensemble of over 100 disabled artists since2005 and has performed with her troupe in more than 50countries. As she explains, “like a book, each country isinteresting in its own way.” Tai Lihua is the only Chinese tohave danced at both New York’s Carnegie Hall and Milan’sLa Scala. Whether at the Opéra National de Paris, a telethonin Las Vegas or the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, shemoves the audience to tears. Her performances graced theclosing ceremony of the 2004 Paralympics in Athens and theopening of the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.Tonight she is performing in Zagreb. With 21 beautiful,sparkling gold-clad dancers hiding behind her, Tai Lihuais transformed into “The Thousand-handed Goddess ofMercy” – the name of the dance. In synchronous motion,the dancers open their arms and move them throughthe air to form a circle all to the beat of spiritual musicfrom the Far East.Though Tai Lihua can feel the rhythm in her body, it doesnot compensate for her lack of hearing. So she keeps invisual contact with her teachers and the other dancers, whosemovements and rhythms she has memorized.Tai Lihua is not just a star on the stage. In May 2010, shebecame the first hearing-impaired person in China to geta driving licence, which up to that time had not been possiblefor people with such disabilities. Tai Lihua is at the forefrontin the fight for the rights of the physically impaired:Since 2009, she has been campaigning successfully forbetter education for disabled children, wheelchair-accessibleentrances and Accessible Pedestrian Signals.And so it is that a pioneer in art has now also become theface of a modern China.ADRIAN GEIGESBe enchanted by Tai Lihua:www.audi.com/ar2010/rhythmPHOTOS | PETERLIN/ LAIF (2); LU JUNDE/ IMAGINECHINA/ LAIF38

Exuding hopeTai Lihua says:“One should look at theunfortunate side oflife through the filterof a happy heart.”39