22 LIFE | People Friday, April 27, 2018 CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION

Dancers of Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games perform at the Beijing Dance Academy on April 23. PHOTOS BY CHAI CHUNXIA / FOR CHINA DAILY MARVELOUS FEET Irish legend Michael Flatley is presenting his show, Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games, in Beijing. Chen Nan reports.

wo espressos start the day The dancer­choreographer came that departed from tradition. for Michael Flatley and to Beijing for the first time in 2004 “The Irish are passionate and full then after two to three when Lord of the Dance was staged of expression. And the core value miles of running in the in the capital. And besides the posi­ behind Irish dance is discipline. So, morning, he makes loT ts of phone tive feedback from the audience, he by making those changes to tradi­ calls, or travels from one country to was impressed by the Chinese tional Irish dance, I wanted to The audience will another. dancers he auditioned in Beijing. make shows that grabbed the audi­ still be surprised It’s a typical day for Flatley, the A muscular young Chinese danc­ ence’s attention and got them world renowned dancer­choreog­ er mixed Irish tap dance with mar­ involved,” says Flatley. with all the new rapher, who is credited with revolu­ tial arts. Another young Chinese Born in 1958 to Irish immigrants tionizing the traditional Irish dancer, who drove to Beijing from in the United States, Flatley technology ... which dance. He has been dazzling the Inner Mongolia autonomous enrolled at an Irish dance school in crowds around the world by creat­ region, wore a beautiful ethnic cos­ Chicago at age 11. His mother and are a good comple­ ing and choreographing the popu­ tume and did the same step like grandmother were both prize­win­ lar show, Riverdance, in 1994, and Flatley did in his shows. ning dancers. ment to the dancers continued his work by choreo­ “It was the same sounds he pro­ At 17, he became the first Ameri­ graphing, producing and directing duced with his feet, but his moves can citizen to win the Irish Dancing and the story.” the show, Lord of the Dance, in were totally different from mine,” World Championships. And, Michael Flatley, creator and 1996. says Flatley. besides dancing, he was a flautist, choreographer of Riverdance His latest stop is Beijing. Along “He told me that he was a self­ winning the All­Ireland Fleadh with his dancers, Flatley, 59, will taught dancer, and that he spent Cheoil Concert Flute competitions stage his dance production, Lord of months learning Irish dance by and releasing two albums. the Dance: Dangerous Games, in the watching my videos. I started cry­ In 1998, Flatley beat his first dancers to interact with students capital, from Friday to Tuesday at ing because I was so touched by the Guinness World Record of 28 taps majoring in Chinese folk dance. the Theater of Beijing Exhibition passion. I knew that he would be per second set in 1989 with 35 taps Speaking about the experience of Hall. successful one day.” per second. meeting Flatley and his team, The show will tour other Chinese Though Flatley lost contact with And, on March 17, 2016, Flatley 20­year­old student Zhang Han cities through May 20, including the two Chinese dancers, he is embarked on his final tour and per­ from the academy, says: “I couldn’t Shanghai, Suzhou, Nanjing and aware that there are a great num­ formed on stage for the last time help tapping the floor when I saw Guangzhou. ber of gifted dancers in China. with Lord of the Dance: Dangerous the Irish dancers perform. Though It’s the first China tour of the “Someday, it would be great to Games, at Caesar’s Colosseum in we are dealing with two different show, Lord of the Dance: Dangerous have a dance group full of Chinese Las Vegas. dance languages, they are both emo­ Games, a “turbo­charged” version dancers,” he says. “I had given so much of myself to tional and powerful.” of Lord of the Dance, which pre­ Lord of the Dance: Dangerous my career. I was ready to retire,” he As for Flatley’s observations, he miered in Dublin in 1996. Games premiered at the celebrated adds. says: “I am very impressed and I see So far, the show, Lord of the Palladium Theatre on London’s Now, the dancer­choreographer the passion of these students. I am Dance, has been watched by 60 mil­ West End in 2014. And, in 2015, focuses on bringing young stars into inspired by the performance of the lion people from 60 countries. Flatley realized his dream by mak­ the spotlight. And he has also made folk dancers, and I want to come “Lord of the Dance: Dangerous ing his Broadway debut with Lord his debut as actor, director and back to the school to create some­ Games still has the storyline of the of the Dance: Dangerous Games at scriptwriter, in his first Hollywood thing beautiful with the dancers.” good versus the evil. But the audi­ the Lyric Theater. movie, a romantic thriller, Black­ Flatley has been made an honora­ ence will still be surprised with all With Riverdance and Lord of the bird, which was shot in Ireland, Lon­ ry professor by Guo Lei, the presi­ the new technology, such as the hol­ Dance, Flatley broke the mold of don and Barbados and is due to be dent of Beijing Dance Academy. ograms and pyrotechnics, which traditional Irish dancing by incor­ released next fall. are a good complement to the danc­ porating upper body movement Michael Flatley (left) and James Keegan, lead dancer in Lord of the Dance: On April 23, Flatley showed up at Contact the writer at ers and the story,” says Flatley. and creating edgy rhythm patterns Dangerous Games. the Beijing Dance Academy with his [email protected] Paralympic veteran finds it hard to give up competing

By LI YINGXUE “We had just five athletes in Chunshan in 2013 and gave birth Describing her feelings, she says: [email protected] 2005, and we developed our skills to a baby girl in 2014. “I just watch her playing through step by step,” says Peng. But On July 31, 2015, when Peng the video call.” Eight years ago, Peng Yuanyuan Peng and her teammates did not saw Beijing winning the bid to In the team, Peng is also every­ was the flag­bearer of Team China have many opportunities then to host the 2022 Olympic and Para­ one’s “big sister”, taking care of her at the closing ceremony of the 2010 compete abroad. lympic Winter Games, her dream teammates and other athletes. Vancouver Paralympic Winter “But each time we joined a com­ of going to the Paralympic podium Xue Hanfang, the translator of Games, having finished fifth in the petition abroad we learned from brought her back to the ski course. China’s para­cross­country skiing women’s 5 km classic style stand­ the athletes there.” Peng joined the Beijing team as a and biathlon national team, says ing event — China’s best Winter Being an athlete is hard work. coach and athlete in 2015, and Peng is always willing to help oth­ Paralympic performance then. Each day, Peng would get up at 6 earned her the ticket to Pyeong­ ers. After an eight­year absence from am to do exercises, and after chang Paralympic Games in “When we attend competitions the Paralympic Winter Games, breakfast she had a two­and­half­ December. abroad, Peng cooks for us (if the Peng, 31, was back with the flag in hour training session, followed by “I would like to thank my hus­ hotels don’t provide food). She also her hand — the Paralympic veter­ another two­hour afternoon ses­ band and coach. He supported and helped (the disabled) athletes with an led the Chinese delegation into sion. trained me.” their clothes and other chores.” the stadium at the opening cere­ Sometimes she had to do extra In Pyeongchang, she competed “She is also keen to learn English, mony of the Pyeongchang Para­ training in the evening. in the women’s 15 km freestyle and sometimes helped communi­ lympic Winter Games on March 3, Cross­country skiing needs ath­ Chinese athlete Peng Yuanyuan participates in the women’s 15 km standing, the 7.5 km classic style cate with foreigners when I was in South Korea. letes to be training and competing free­style standing skiing event at the 2010 Vancouver Paralympic Winter standing and sprint classic style busy,” Xue says. “I’m very proud to be the flag­ in the snow, with only thin sports­ Games. HUANG XIAONAN / XINHUA standing, but didn’t surpass her Peng plans to retire again next bearer. It’s such an honor,” says wear. best. year, but her passion for the Para­ Peng. “This is my third Paralym­ “When we trained on the ski “I’m not satisfied with my lympic Games will not die. pics.” course, the temperature used to be Peng says even though it (the formance at the Vancouver Games, results, but I tried my best,” says Now she is coaching nine athletes Peng, who has a disability in her between minus 20 and 30. And training) was hard, she had to for which she was called “the sin­ Peng, who has not enjoyed any hol­ for cross­country skiing for the Bei­ right arm, was first recruited for there was one time when the tem­ overcome it. “It was not only me gle arm heroine”. iday since last May, when she jing team. the Heilongjiang team for the perature was ­48 C,” says Peng. that faced this situation. Every In 2011, Peng retired and opened began preparing for this year’s “And I’ll probably join the 2022 sprint at the age of 17. And, several “When we were skiing, we didn’t athlete has been there.” a small retail store in Qiqihaer, in games. Beijing Paralympic Winter Games months later, she was selected for feel the cold,” says Peng. “But Peng first took part in the Para­ Heilongjiang province. Having been away from her as a coach, and I hope my athletes the winter games team to train for sometimes after training, my hair lympic Winter Games in 2006. She got married to her then­ daughter for 10 months, Peng miss­ can fulfill my dream and stand on cross­country skiing. would be frozen.” And in 2010 she gave her best per­ teammate and current coach, Fu es her a lot. the podium in 2022.”