Daily Inspiration: Meet Rourou Ye

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rourou Ye.

Hi Rourou, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I was born and raised in China in the late 80s. I started my dance training in Chinese styles since I was five, followed by rigorous training in a conservatory setting until I graduated from my undergraduate college-Shanghai theater Academy, with a major in choreography. I then worked at Musical Theater Department from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, one of the most prestigious conservatories in China for three years teaching dance classes and choreographing for musicals. In 2015, I relocated to New York for my Master in Dance program at Sarah Lawrence College. My two-year master program opened up a whole new world to me. I studied contemporary experimental dance and theater directions, including somatic practice, improvisation, dance theater, object theater, live-feed performance as well as research and seminars.

After my graduation in 2017, I started to work as an independent choreographer to hone my own artistic vision in New York City. I just recently moved to Los Angeles. For the past three years, my works were supported by NYC’s major experimental dance organizations. Some of them were featured in the NEW Museum, Austin dance festival, and exhibition in Venice, Italy. Currently, I work to expand my dance to a broader audience internationally. One of my latest work has been invited to perform at the spring festival at Elektron Art ­in Estonia in March 2021.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There are so many challenges and struggles that I encounter all the time. They are the majority part of my life and have always been the inspiration of my choreographic works. The biggest challenge is the conflict between cultural values. I am a Chinese woman in my early 30s and born in a single-child family under China’s over 30 years of one-child policy. I haven’t yet married and have a kid. Maybe it all sounds normal in the US, but it’s controversial from the culture and values I grew up with. My parents have been hoping for me to get married and have a kid since I graduated from grad school because that’s what a Chinese woman suppose to have. They don’t really approve of my choice of living in a foreign country myself nor my career choice of being an independent dance artist that barely makes enough money for a living. Besides, the very bitter feeling I have is knowing that my parents are getting old, yet I am not with them to taking care of them.

Good Chinese children suppose to make parents happy and feel proud, yet I made them suffer because I am physically so far away from them. I feel so guilty, yet I couldn’t find a solution to end this suffering… I either give up my dream in the USA, go back to China, or continue developing my career here and letting the suffering go on. I chose to stay. On top of that, I also have to navigate my life as an immigrant here, coping with my daily challenges and taking care of how I feel. I was previously living in NYC, one of the most intense cities globally, and my life there was filled with vast loneliness. For the past few years, I long to create belongings through my work, career, and interpersonal relationships. They are all very challenging to find and build when I do everything by myself.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a choreographer and teacher. I think I do exciting things. Start with my choreography. Using my body as the medium, I play with shadow puppetry, projection, and ordinary objects, to devise visually and perceptually intriguing materials that defy reality. I am not specifically interested in the dance technique nor the movement design of dance. For me, I need a reason to start moving. My creative flow goes with visually building the shifts and transformations of cinematic scenes and images for myself to live in and move through to ultimately evoke my hidden feelings through the process. Sometimes I think of myself more as a visual artist because my stories are told through images. They look like illustrations or silent movies, and I instead use dance as my tool. I also draw to discover “tricks” during my creation to make ordinary things look magical.

For example, I did an online performance with my remote collaborator last month. I created an illusional shared common space for both of us to perform in and interact with each other. It looked like we were actually in the same place while I was in LA and she was in Amsterdam. I loved it! I have many works available on my website (http://rourouye.com/) if you want to look into more. As a teacher, I teach dance classes for ladies. My students are often professionals in their 20s to 30s.­ They study contemporary dance with me because they want to be physically and mentally more in tune with themselves, and I have a very different approach compares to other instructors. I actually never “teach” students, I inspire them and guide them to find their own body language.

Dance is such a personal expression, and every one of us has our u­nique body with different textures, identities, and personalities. Those differences distinguish us from others. I don’t want my students to come to my class just to learn my dance moves and mimic me. I don’t want them to forget who they are and try to become me. They will never succeed that way. I help them to know themselves, to understand how their body moves, to appreciate it, and to find power and beauty in it. My goal is to guide them in becoming the master of their own dance style. On a professional level, I mentor professional dance students to prepare their Master in dance college application. I have my students selected into dance master programs at CalArts and Duke university last year, which I was very proud of.

How do you think about happiness?
I’m pretty lucky to do things that I’m genuinely passionate about. I value innovation and creativity, and I feel content when I create something new. My choreography allows me to find these moments. I love that I gave birth to my work – something new that others haven’t discovered before. I am proud that I have the gift to create my own distinct artistic vision. I value impact and inspiration. I love to help my students grow and achieve their goals. Seeing them dance so well and being so confident with themselves truly makes me happy. Teaching creates meaning in my life, and I will continue to do it.

Pricing:

• One on one dance lesson: $80 per hour

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: rourouye.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rourou_sweetheart/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006268329943
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmRgxNF4P61lJbxZJLB72nQ