Wen Hui (dancer)

In this Chinese name, the family name is Wen.
Wen Hui
Born1960 (age 65–66)
Yunnan, Southwest China
EducationYunnan Art School
Alma materBeijing Dance Academy
AwardsGoethe Medal

Wen Hui (Chinese: 文慧; pinyin: Wén Huì, born 1960) is a Chinese dancer and choreographer. She co-founded the Living Dance Studio in Beijing, China’s first independent dance theatre company.

Biography

Wen Hui was born in 1960 in the province Yunnan, Southwest China.[1][2] She attended Yunnan Art School with her brother.[3][4]

During the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s, Wen studied Chinese folk dance and dances for the revolutionary operas, known as yangbanxi (Chinese: 样板戏).[2] Wen studied at the Department of Choreography of the Beijing Dance Academy from 1985 to 1989.[5]After graduating, Wen was appointed as a choreographer at the Oriental Song and Dance Ensemble of China (Chinese: 中国东方演艺集团, romanized: Dongfang gewutuan).[3] When she produced a jazz dance for the Dong-fang Ensemble, her work was immediately taken off the programme.[6]

In 1997, Wen studied modern dance in New York with funding from the Asian Cultural Council.[1] After Wen returned to China,[6] in 1994 she and Chinese filmmaker Wu Wenguang co-founded the Living Dance Studio (LDS) in Beijing, which was China’s first independent dance theatre company.[1] The studios first production was called 100 Verbs.[2] Wen and Wu also co-curated the first “Crossing” International Dance Festival in Beijing[7][8] and established The European Artists Exchange Project and Young Choreographers Project in 2005.[9]

From 1999 to 2000, Wen performed with American contemporary choreographer Ralph Lemon’s dance company in the United States.[8] In 1999, she produced Report on Giving Birth, based on interviews conducted with women about their experience of childbirth. The work was revived 25 years after the initial production at the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, France.[10]

In 2001, Wen premiered Dance with Farm Workers (Chinese: 民工跳舞, romanized: He míngōng tiàowǔ)[11] at the East Modern Art Centre, featuring both professional dancers and migrant workers in the piece.[1][2] The show has also been performed in the Chinese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in Venice, Italy.[7]

In 2004, Wen's piece Report on Body won the ZKB Patronage Prize of the Zürcher Theater Spektakel in Zurich, Switzerland.[9]

From 2008, Wen's Living Dance Studio productions focused on topics of history and bodily memory.[6][8] In 2015, Wen curated the ReActor Project at the Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai.[12] Her 2018 production Red was inspired by the Cultural Revolution era Red Detachment of Women (ballet).[13][14][15]

Wen was awarded the German Goethe Medal in 2021.[7] That year she presented the solo work I am 60 at the Festival d’Automne in Paris, France, and at the Ruhrtriennale in Ruhr, Germany.[9]

In 2024, Wen performed in What Is War with Eiko Otake, which explored memories of China and Japan in World War II.[16][17][18]

In 2025, Wen choreographed I Dance for You, a piece about her family's experiences during the Cultural Revolution.[19][20]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Lin, Wei-Yu (2005). Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture. London: Routledge. p. 652. ISBN 978-0-415-24129-8.
  2. ^ a b c d Yiwen, Cai (2017-05-28). "From Propaganda Ballets to Dance for the People". #SixthTone. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  3. ^ a b Venker, Thomas. "Wen Hui: „I always say: my daily life is my technique"". Kaput Mag. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  4. ^ "Performing Arts Festival launching from Tokyo". www.festival-tokyo.jp. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  5. ^ "Danse : le miroir aux alouettes de Wen Hui la Chinoise". Le Monde (in French). Archived from the original on 2025-01-19. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  6. ^ a b c 瑋, 尉 (2019-06-10). "[中][ENG] 舞蹈家文慧 Dance Artist Wen Hui 以身體介入歷史 記憶永不消散 The Body intervenes". Dance Journal Hong Kong. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  7. ^ a b c "Eiko Otake and Wen Hui". Pina Bausch Fellowship for Dance and Choreography. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  8. ^ a b c "Wen Hui | artist". ARTLINKART Chinese contemporary art database. 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-11-12. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  9. ^ a b c "Wen Hui". On the Boards. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  10. ^ "Wen Hui". Théâtre de la ville de Paris. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  11. ^ "Dance With Farm Workers, 和民工跳舞 - WEN Hui, 文慧". Videotage. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  12. ^ ""Their art connects cultures"". Goethe. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  13. ^ Murphy, Siobhan (2018-10-08). "Wen Hui – Red – London". DanceTabs. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  14. ^ Romaeuropa (2018-08-27). TRAILER REf18 - Wen Hui - RED : A DOCUMENTARY PERFORMANCE. Retrieved 2026-03-17 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ Seetoo, Chiayi (2021). "Documentary in Motion: Dramaturgy of the Corporeal in Chinese Dance Artist Wen Hui's Works". Asian Theatre Journal. 38 (1): 275–305. ISSN 1527-2109. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  16. ^ Jiang, Linshan (2024). "Embodied Histories: Dancing War by Eiko Otake and Wen Hui: What Is War (work-in-progress showing) By Eiko Otake and Wen Hui Ark Dance Studio, Duke, North Carolina, April 6, 2024". Dance Chronicle. 47 (3): 634–638. doi:10.1080/01472526.2024.2367380. ISSN 0147-2526.
  17. ^ Seibert, Brian (2025-10-22). "Review: Bodily Traces of War, Expressed Through Dance". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  18. ^ O’Neill-Butler, Lauren (2025-11-10). "Eiko Otake & Wen Hui: What Is War". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  19. ^ "Dancing with ghosts: How Wen Hui brings China's silenced history to life". Global Spark. 2025-11-24. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
  20. ^ Davis, Rebecca L. (2025-11-24). "Wen Hui Was Making Feminist Art Before She Even Knew the Term". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
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