The famous American dancer Isadora Duncan is the founder of modern dance and is known as the "Mother of Modern Dance". She not only brought dance into a new era, but also influenced the world of dance. development process has had a positive impact. What is little known is that this great inter-era dancer also taught a Chinese apprentice. She was the most beautiful official around Cixi - Yu Rongling.
Yu Rongling was born in 1889, when the Qing Dynasty had not yet been destroyed. Her father was Yu Geng, a first-class official, who was often sent to other countries as ministers, so Yu Rongling was able to Get in touch with the cultures of various countries. When she was 6 years old, she came to Japan with her father and learned Japanese classical dance from a maid who was good at singing and dancing. Later, she asked her parents to hire a dancer from Hongye Pavilion to teach dance.
When she was 11 years old, Yu Rongling followed her father to Paris, France. At that time, Paris did not reject dance and consciously cultivated children to develop in a versatile direction. A diplomat's wife introduced Isadora Duncan, who was teaching dance in Paris at the time, to Rongling. Due to Roung Ling's outstanding performance, Duncan happily accepted this smart and talented apprentice.
Yu Rongling studied dance with Duncan for 3 years. Later, she also starred in dance dramas such as "Greek Dance" and "Rose and Butterfly" created by Duncan, which were well received by the audience. Paris People in China call her the "Butterfly Queen" of the East. Although her parents were very angry because of her "publicity", they later saw that their daughter loved dancing so much that they finally decided to support her dream and sent her to the Paris Conservatoire for further study.
By the time she returned to China in 1903, Yu Rongling had become an excellent dancer. After returning to China, she was selected by Cixi and became the empress dowager of the Empress Dowager Cixi together with her mother and sister. Because Yu Rongling was proficient in three foreign languages: English, Japanese and French, she was not only a court dancer, but also Cixi's foreign affairs translator.
In the palace, Yu Rongling was loved by the Queen Mother for her excellent dancing skills. When Cixi was in a bad mood, Yu Rongling's dancing always made her feel much better. For this reason, Cixi personally gave her a title. As "Princess Shanshou", this is a title that only the legitimate daughter of a prince could have in the past, which is equivalent to the Manchu title of Heshuogege.
After returning to China, Yu Rongling devoted herself to absorbing and creating Chinese dance. Because she had learned all foreign dances before, she combined foreign dances with Chinese dances and created "Sword Dance" and "Fan Dance". ", "Guanyin Dance", "Ruyi Dance" and other dances with Chinese national characteristics. After leaving the palace, Yu Rongling also performed charity performances and contributed his own efforts to relieve poor farmers.
In 1912, Yu Rongling married Major General Tang Baochao. After her marriage, she still did not give up her dance career and continued to create dances for decades. After the founding of New China, Rongling was hired as a librarian at the Museum of Literature and History. She wrote what she saw and heard in a book called "Miscellaneous Notes on the Qing Palace", which provided precious historical materials for the history of modern Chinese dance.
Rong Ling was still in good spirits in his later years, and could still be interviewed by writers who studied the history of dance. We can also see from some old photos that have been handed down that although the years have left a mark on Rong Ling’s face, There are no traces, but she still has an elegant and charming temperament. She deserves to be the first person in my country to learn Western ballet and modern dance.
The "Queen of the Butterfly" lived until 1973, and later died of illness at the age of 84. Even after her death, the art world has not forgotten her name. There is still a dance art forum named after her, which represents the memory of this legendary artist by dancers and dance historians.