Composer's memories help shape the future

In 2016, Tang made her debut as a choreographer in The Flowing Dance From Tang Poetry, a dance production that combined traditional Chinese dance movements with ancient Tang Dynasty (618-907) poems. See, the first dance she has directed, premiered at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing in February 2023.

"I tried to express something by using a whole variety of theatrical elements. We let the composer write the music first and then arranged the choreography based on his music," she says. "It's not like a traditional dance drama that tells a story. With See, we moved away from stories and allowed our bodies to follow the inspiration floating in the back of our minds, a word, a sound or an idea."

Asked why See was inspired by the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, she says that the idea came from her performance in the dance drama, Lady Zhaojun, in 2016. Tang played the lead role of Princess Wang Zhaojun, a beautiful woman from the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), who was married to the leader of the Xiongnu, a nomadic ethnic group to the north, and who helped establish peace between them.

The drama allowed her to explore the beautiful landscapes of Inner Mongolia, she says.

"Like the dance See, the music for it is also contemporary," Xue says, describing the 90-minute soundtrack as romantic, poetic and cinematic.

"Although we used some Mongolian folk music elements, we merged them with a symphony orchestra, giving the music a different twist," he adds.

Xue was signed up by the Universal Music Group's Chinese division in 2010 at the age of 21, then the youngest classical artist signed by the division.

He has released five albums, including his debut, Magic Finger, and Silent Song, on which he interprets classical music and performs his own compositions for the first time.

In 2013, he worked with renowned conductor Li Xincao and the China National Symphony Orchestra to release the live performance album, The Concerto, and finally in 2023, he became artist-in-residence at the China National Symphony Orchestra.