{{Short description|Chinese dancer and choreographer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}} {{family name hatnote|Yang|lang=Chinese}}{{Infobox person | name = Yang Liping | image = Yang liping photo by tutmos.jpg | alt = | caption = Yang performing at a concert | alias = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1958|11|10}} | birth_place = Wen Qiang village, Cibihu town, Dali, Yunnan province | alma_mater = Minzu University of China | occupation = {{flatlist| * Dancer * Choreographer }} | years_active = 1971–present | title = Princess of Peacock, Dancing Goddess | spouse = {{marriage|Liu Chunqing|1995}} | relatives = Yang Cai Qi (Niece) | module = {{Infobox Chinese|child=yes | t = {{linktext|楊|麗|萍}} | s = {{linktext|杨|丽|萍}} | p = Yáng LìPíng }} }} '''Yang Liping''' ({{zh|s=杨丽萍|t=|p=Yáng LìPíng}}; born 10 November 1958) is a Chinese dancer and choreographer of Bai ethnicity. She rose to fame for choreographing and performing "The spirit of Peacock" in 1986. She was the first dancer from mainland China that went to Taiwan to perform in 1992. She is known across China for her creativity and her performance of the Dai peacock dance. Yang has been dubbed as the "Peacock Princess of China".<ref name="a2">{{cite news|last1=Barboza|first1=David|date=5 March 2005|title=The Peacock Princess of China|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/05/arts/dance/the-peacock-princess-of-china.html}}</ref> She has performed over 1000 shows and toured to over 30 countries and regions, including The Philippines, Singapore, Russia, US, Canada, Taiwan, Japan and Australia.<ref>{{Cite web|date=21 February 2014|title=白族的孔雀精灵-杨丽萍_名家_中华舞蹈网|url=http://www.zhwdw.com/info/virtuoso/mingjia/138251.shtml|access-date=27 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221215219/http://www.zhwdw.com/info/virtuoso/mingjia/138251.shtml|archive-date=21 February 2014}}</ref>
==Early life and family== Yang was born 10 November 1958 in Wen Qiang village, Cibihu town, Dali city, Yunnan province. She is the eldest of four children. Her parents and grandparents, members of the Bai ethnic minority, were farmers in a nearby village. Her grandmother was a singer in the village.<ref name="a2" /> She was born during the Great Chinese Famine and lived a hard life.<ref>{{cite web|date=2 December 2013|title=《年代访》对话杨丽萍：纷乱世界 我看到万物真相|url=http://culture.ifeng.com/niandaifang/special/yangliping/fangtan/detail_2013_12/02/31732067_0.shtml|access-date=6 February 2014|work=凤凰网}}</ref> She moved to Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture with her family when she was nine.<ref>{{cite web|date=11 April 2001|title=杨丽萍与她的故乡|url=http://www.china.com.cn/chinese/CU-c/28653.htm|access-date=6 February 2014|work=人民日报海外版}}</ref> Fearful of persecution in Cultural Revolution, Yang's father left his family. 11-year-old Yang and her mother supported the whole family.<ref>{{cite web|author1=庞清辉|title=杨丽萍：一个舞蹈家的传奇|url=http://paper.people.com.cn/rmwz/html/2012-04/01/content_1034218.htm|access-date=26 May 2020|website=人民网|publisher=人民文摘}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author1=张道正|title=著名舞蹈家杨丽萍：我没有那么好 只是生逢其时|url=https://culture.ifeng.com/a/20140907/41894974_0.shtml|access-date=26 May 2020|website=中国新闻网}}</ref>
==Career== Yang began her formal dance training at the late age of 11 at a dance troupe in the Xishuangbanna area of Yunnan, after her family moved to the area. In the Southern flatland of Yunnan, Xishuangbanna borders the country of Burma and is dominated by the Dai ethnic group, whose Peacock dance she would become synonymous with. In 1971, she took on the role of "Peacock Princess" in the Xishuangbanna Song and Dance Troupe's narrative dance drama ''Zhaoshuzhun yu nanmunuona''<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.cnki.net/kcms/doi/10.16230/j.cnki.yyxb.2008.01.006.html|title=西双版纳音乐舞蹈资源的产业开发与思考 - 中国知网|website=www.cnki.net|access-date=Nov 23, 2020|doi=10.16230/j.cnki.yyxb.2008.01.006}}</ref>''.''
In her early 20s, after she moved to Beijing to dance with the Central Nationalities Song and Dance Ensemble, she made the Daomeilan's version of the peacock dance her own, recasting parts of it with deft arm and finger movements. In 1986, that choreography and dance won her first prize in a national competition.<ref name="a2" /> She rose to national level fame in 1986 when she won first prize in a national dance competition for her original solo "Spirit of the Peacock" (雀之灵). Ever since, she has been dubbed the "Peacock Princess".
She was the director, choreographer and star of "Dynamic Yunnan", a show that drew sellout crowds all over China. In 2004, "Dynamic Yunnan" won five major awards at the National Lotus Awards, including Gold Award for Dance Spectacular, Best Choreography and Best Female Performer. To create the exotic song and dance spectacular "Dynamic Yunnan", Yang spent years traveling to remote villages of the 26 ethnic minority tribes in Yunnan and selected over 60 villagers who had the natural gift of song and dance, from whom she built an archive re-creating this rich feast of sight and sound.<ref name="a2" /> It is part of a trilogy that she directed and choreographed between 2004 and 2008: "Dynamic Yunnan", "Echoes of Shangri-la" and "Tibetan Myth". She toured Europe and the United States in 2005.
In May 2009, she revealed a dance and music production 'Yunnan Sound', at the Yunnan Art Institute's Experimental Theater. On 17 November 2009, during US President Barack Obama's visit to China, she performed the classic dance "The Spirit of the Birds" at the Great Hall of the People.<ref>{{cite news|date=21 December 2009|title=杨丽萍：用舞蹈来养活灵魂-博宝艺术网 时间|language=zh|work=Art Xun|url=http://artxun.com/news/detail/576539.html}}{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> She is currently a judge on So You Think You Can Dance China. thumb|yang is performing in a concert dynamic Yunnan in China in 2010.
== Choreographic works == * Moonlight<ref>{{cite AV media |date=20 December 2011 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHgYq8BKgrc |title=China's most beautiful dance!Yang Liping, "Moonlight"The most beautiful dance |publisher=鲁弘睿 |via=YouTube |access-date=27 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723144549/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHgYq8BKgrc |archive-date=23 July 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> * Pilgrimage to Lhasa<ref>{{cite AV media |date=14 May 2012 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UE9jGMpZqg |title=Pilgrimage to Lhasa, Version II (Yunnan Yingxiang) Yang Liping, 2002 |publisher=James P |via=YouTube |access-date=27 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723144615/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UE9jGMpZqg |archive-date=23 July 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> * Two trees<ref>{{cite AV media |date=30 July 2007 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETRIg4jp22w |title=two trees by yang liping |publisher=rendan27 |via=YouTube |access-date=27 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140511144014/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETRIg4jp22w |archive-date=11 May 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> * 雨丝<ref>{{cite AV media |date=12 August 2008 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnJ2eh98Ajg |title=雨丝（表演：杨丽萍） |publisher=lingbo dancer |via=YouTube |access-date=27 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723144554/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnJ2eh98Ajg |archive-date=23 July 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> * Fire<ref>{{cite AV media |date=16 December 2018 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4nh7jsTP3k |title=杨丽萍 火 |publisher=4799 BILLY |via=YouTube |access-date=27 March 2022}}</ref> * Red temptation<ref>{{cite AV media |date=16 December 2018 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-Za8BZopLM |title=极其极其罕见的杨丽萍早期舞蹈《红色诱惑》 |publisher=4799 BILLY |via=YouTube |access-date=27 March 2022}}</ref> * Daughter of the country<ref>{{cite AV media |date=2 September 2007 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsXCwNLaCWM |title=女儿国 （杨丽萍） Country of Daughters |publisher=sugarsweet87 |via=YouTube |access-date=27 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723144556/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsXCwNLaCWM |archive-date=23 July 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> * Spirit of the Peacock<ref>{{cite AV media |date=18 October 2006 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgwGSQRb0YU |title=Liping Yang - Spirit of the Peacock 杨丽萍-云南印象-雀之灵 |publisher=sugarsweet87 |via=YouTube |access-date=27 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229044304/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgwGSQRb0YU |archive-date=29 December 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> * Romantic peacock <ref>{{cite AV media |date=21 December 2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gUiUm1zvcU |title=2012央视春节联欢晚会 舞蹈《雀之恋》杨丽萍 王迪{{!}} CCTV春晚 |publisher=CCTV春晚 |via=YouTube |access-date=27 March 2022}}</ref> * Echoes Of Shangrila<ref>{{cite AV media |date=20 June 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBa9hB4iWpI |title=Documentary of Echoes Of Shangrila 云南的响声纪录片 |publisher=Yunnan Visitor Center |via=YouTube |access-date=27 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104133047/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBa9hB4iWpI |archive-date=4 January 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> * Under Siege—The Full Story of Farewell My Concibine<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yangliping.com/index.php?route=album/image&id=4fdf9181-a416-11e7-87e0-02f02ad2ab46|title=杨丽萍艺术|website=www.yangliping.com|access-date=Nov 23, 2020}}</ref> * Dynamic Yunnan<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yangliping.com/index.php?route=album/image&id=55f6a151-a197-11e7-87e0-02f02ad2ab46|title=杨丽萍艺术|website=www.yangliping.com|access-date=Nov 23, 2020}}</ref> * Peacock of Winter<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yangliping.com/index.php?route=information/news/news&news_id=0b38f1e2-a44d-11e7-87e0-02f02ad2ab46&module=7a215ed8-a198-11e7-87e0-02f02ad2ab46|title=杨丽萍艺术|website=www.yangliping.com|access-date=Nov 23, 2020}}</ref> * The Peacock<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yangliping.com/index.php?route=album/image&id=9762c1e4-a416-11e7-87e0-02f02ad2ab46|title=杨丽萍艺术|website=www.yangliping.com|access-date=Nov 23, 2020}}</ref> * Shangrila Dynamic Yunnan<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yangliping.com/index.php?route=album/image&id=c970175f-a197-11e7-87e0-02f02ad2ab46|title=杨丽萍艺术|website=www.yangliping.com|access-date=Nov 23, 2020}}</ref> * Dynamic Huangshan<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.yangliping.com/index.php?route=album/image&id=dc545a2c-a415-11e7-87e0-02f02ad2ab46|title=杨丽萍艺术|website=www.yangliping.com|access-date=Nov 23, 2020}}</ref>
==Personal life== Yang's first husband was a colleague of the Central National Song and Dance Troupe and later divorced. Her current husband, Liu Yuqing, is a Taiwanese-American. The couple met in 1990 and married in 1995, but Yang wants to dance long-term dieting and cannot be pregnant.<ref>{{cite news|date=25 September 2012|title=揭54岁杨丽萍终身不育内幕 老公系台湾富豪-搜狐娱乐|language=zh|work=Sohu|url=http://yule.sohu.com/20120925/n353931453.shtml}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} <references group="" responsive="1"></references>
==External links== * [https://gurushots.com/photo/da84700bf90e6ebccb29029abd64cdd4 Yang Liping photo - Dynamic Yunnan photo by Ali köksal] (gurushots) * [https://gurushots.com/photo/470c9444d130a2cbd4a76057a4fbf911 Yang Liping photo - Dynamic Yunnan photo by Ali köksal] (gurushots) * [https://500px.com/photo/77663953/yang-liping-08a-by-Ali-K%C3%B6ksal Yang Liping photo - Dynamic Yunnan photo by Ali köksal] (500px) * [http://www.makers.com/china/yang-liping Yang Liping] Video produced by ''Makers: Women Who Make America''
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Liping}} Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:People from Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture Category:Chinese choreographers Category:Chinese women choreographers Category:Chinese female dancers Category:Chinese dancers Category:20th-century dancers Category:21st-century Chinese dancers Category:Bai people