‘I’m 76, forget my age, I flip like a girl’

Zhang Ai Lian has adorned stages the world over as a dancer and has practiced the art for 67 years now. She is one of China’s most celebrated artistes and nothing about her stage moves gives away her age. She spoke to Arts & Ideas on her passion after she performed for a mixed audience […]

Zhang Ai Lian has adorned stages the world over as a dancer and has practiced the art for 67 years now. She is one of China’s most celebrated artistes and nothing about her stage moves gives away her age. She spoke to Arts & Ideas on her passion after she performed for a mixed audience at the Maizidian International Community Cultural Festival, penultimate Saturday in Beijing.
‘How old are you?’ With hands moved up to her waist, shoulders high up to her chin, eye balls rolling and head swaying, Zhang Ai Lian after a moment’s silence, answers: “I’m 76.”
Already too familiar with the reaction the mention of her age provokes, she quickly adds: “But forget my age, I still flip like a girl.”
To another, who hadn’t heard her response, she lifts her right and counts her fingers, “one, two” and then on her left hand she counts, “one, two, three, four, five, six, seven” and says in heavy Mandarin accent, “I am twenty seven. Twenty seven,” she repeated laughing at the puzzled look on the interviewee’s face.
Indeed, she flips like a girl!
Lian is one of China’s most celebrated and famous dancers whose performance, our reporter had the rare privilege of watching last Saturday when she graced the stage of the 2015 Maizidian International Community Cultural Festival, in Beijing, China.
Immediately swaying into action as she stepped on stage, supported by the thunderous applause from fans and those who instantly recognised her, it was quite a task to reconcile the swift and nimble steps to the wrinkles on the face of the performer.
Even more difficult for a first timer like our reporter to Lian’s ways was her macro second back flip, glide and slide. For a Nigerian audience the swag, was just ‘too much’ to be absorbed sitting down.
Her small frame occupied every angle of the stage as she performed showing off the elasticity of her body and how years of dedication to her one true love, is paying off even at almost 80.
Speaking on her passion for the art, Lian said she began taking dance classes at the age of nine and received the support of her family. “I enjoyed it so much that it was not difficult to make the decision that it would be my life. As I grew older, I decided that I would devote my whole life to it. This is what I have been doing for the past 67 years. I have encouraged several other young girls to join in and I can see how a lot of them will follow in my footsteps,” she bragged.
Lian has a dance school, Beijing Ai Lian Dancing School with classes from primary to secondary school, which has 200 students at the moment. In order that they have an all round education, the septuagenarian said lessons taught to students in regular schools are taught to the dance students as well.
“Most importantly,” according to her, “the school is recognised by the Education Commission of Beijing,” which is the body responsible for such institutions set up in the province.
 Itchy to hear the secrets to her enviable look and flexibility, Lian is quick to say: “I don’t diet. I don’t like diet. I eat anything I want to eat. But you know how I stay fit, I practice my passion all the time.”
She adds that: “I don’t have a set time for dance, I do it and I also educate and teach it on a daily basis. With a schedule as this, you cannot but stay healthy. Dance is intense, very intense.”
The artiste has graced stages all over the world from Europe to America and shared her moments before a performance.
She said: “Each time I prepare for a performance I am excited and looking forward to it. Even before I go on stage, my heart is there already. I can feel the excitement of the audience and this motivates me to give them my best.
“Today, I performed a young girl in Tibet who discovered the road which led to greater changes and I followed it all the way to the heavens,” she said with a childish chuckle.
She explained that these changes bring us better lives and make all things around us more beautiful. This she tied to things like industrialisation and other developments. “While performing, I enjoyed the feelings of these changes as any young girl would,” she quipped.
For Lian: “Every character I play, I give life to and live in them.”
Photos: Adie Vanessa Offiong