I just recently learned about Chinese beauty Tang Jia Li, a dancer/actress. According to magazine Asian Wave she has a calm “Mona Lisa” smile and a tranquil expression. Her agile body and delicate limbs befit her poise as a performer. After her nude art photo collection was published in China, it sparked so much negative scrutiny from the media and the internet that she almost committed suicide.

Fortunately she didn’t and so people in Canada could see her this Summer performing in Senses, a modern Chinese opera about a new and modern face of Chinese women. Without discarding the hallmarks of Chinese tradition and history, the performance features an all-female cast of Chinese dancers, singers, and musicians with Tang Jia Li as female lead dancer.

See more of Tang Jia Li’s nude art photo collection at Scanlover.

After all my recent posts on Hong Kong cinema (as well as some of Robin and badboy’s recent posts!), I thought it was time for me to inject some real class into Asian Sirens. And what better way to do that than with the woman who is widely regarded as the greatest dancer in China – and in my humble opinion the greatest dancer in the world?

Yang Li Ping became famous overnight in 1986 for her performance in the Dai dance drama “The Peacock Princess”. Although she’s never had any formal training whatosever, she entered the China Central Song and Dance Ensemble of Nationalities in 1988. At the Second National Dance Contest, her dance “The Soul of the Peacock” (which she choreographed and performed herself) outshone all others and reaped two first prizes, one for choreography and another for her performance of the piece. Since then, she has become revered in China as the “peacock princess”.Having seen her compilation DVD, I can honestly say I’ve never seen anything else like her: the sheer grace, beauty and sensuousness of her performance is simply beyond description. Her dance is also highly original and incredibly natural: it’s as if her performance just flows out of her as though she were posessed. Indeed, her native people (the Bai ethnic group) call her “bimo”, which means ‘the witch with the gift of dancing’! Critics call her the “dance poet”, which I can only agree with.

As visitors to this site will want to know, she is also very attractive: despite the fact that she is now 47, she has an outstandingly trim and slender body, which she likes to show off with some pretty revealing outfits. And yes, she is still dancing – she says she’ll never stop because it’s in her blood, a statement I don’t think anyone could argue with! Her grace, her beauty, her body and most of all her breathtaking performance are truly a joy to watch: even if you aren’t normaly into dance (and I have to say I’m not), I’m sure you’ll find her truly compelling.

Here’s a few articles about her:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-04/08/content_1408241.htm (many pictures)
http://www.chinatoday.com.cn/English/e2004/e200408/p66.htm
http://www.heritageeast.com/yang/yang_NYTIMES.htm
http://app1.chinadaily.com.cn/star/history/00-02-22/w01-dance.html
http://www.china-pictorial.com/chpic/htdocs/English/content/200301/4-1.htm