CCTV Catches the Dancing Bug
Switch on your TV any day between the 11 – 18 October, and chances are you'll come across dancers of all genres showing off their rhythmic swagger. Now in its sixth year, the biannual CCTV National Dance Competition is ready to air its 2011 cast of movers and shakers. Shanghai-based dancers Artai Soloviov and Guo Jiaoying hope that their rumba routine will have what it takes to land them in the finals.
Thousands of dancing hopefuls sent in their videotapes to the contest, and they’re not just from the Mainland. Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan were all well-represented, and dancers from around Asia and even across the Pacific sent in their applications. Only 70 of the entrants will have the chance to strut their stuff onstage in front of an international television audience.
Among the dancers who sent in their tapes are Guo Jianying, 25, and Artai Soloviov, 29. If selected, the pair will be one of the contest’s ballroom dancing couples. Not unlike the reality show ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ on Fox and BBC, CCTV National Dance Competition hosts an eclectic assortment of dance styles. In addition to ballroom dancing, the schedule also lists military, hip-hop and traditional Chinese choreography, just to name a few.
The reality show partnership of Guo and Soloviov will only be a couple months old when the decision is made if they will join the ranks of competitors. As this publication was going to press, the pair was still waiting to hear if they would be selected for the show.
"I'm not nervous now, but I will be," Soloviov says. Guo quickly chimes in, "I'm excited and nervous." As well they should be – the lucky 70 who are selected will go to Beijing for the taping and dance in front of not only the live audience and the crowd of TV viewers, but also a jury consisting of 56 judges, all dance artists, educators and critics.
Guo knows what she might be in for as she actually made it to the contest once before. "It was when I was in college. I danced a rumba routine, but I didn't go to the final,” she says. Over the years, she’s continued to show up on television screens, both on dance shows and interviews.
To try and land a place on the competition, the pair has selected 'Mr A's Dream', a slow and sensual rumba routine that winds itself around the tones of Andrea Bocelli as he performs 'Les Feuilles Mortes', the original title of the jazz standard more commonly known as 'Autumn Leaves'. The CCTV National Dance Competition sees a lot of Latin dance couples, but Guo and Soloviov know what to do to stand out from the crowd – add a touch of theatre.
"Our routine tells a story. In the beginning she is dead, but then I come and wake her up. After that we dance together and a love story takes place, and in the end we both die," he says. The couple will dress in classic black, a colour that jives well with the mortal theme of their routine.
