Jin Yao
With the Hong Kong Ballet’s production of “The Nutcracker” running for its 15th consecutive year, principal ballerina Jin Yao talks to Leanne Mirandilla about her journey so far, some of the trials of professional dance and her future aspirations.
My parents were both dancers. Maybe it’s in my blood or something. When I was young, I always went with them to the studio to see them dance, rehearse or coach other young dancers. I really liked to dance. Every time I listened to music I wanted to move.
One day, I went with my mother to watch her coach other dancers. They were doing a kind of turn. The dancers couldn’t get it. Afterwards, we went home and I suddenly just did that step. My mom was surprised.
In the beginning, my parents didn’t want me to be professional dancer because it takes a long time—many years of professional training. Dancers may feel that it’s really hard and tiring.
Every year the Beijing Dance Academy interviewed young children to join the school. The [school] knew me. They felt that I would be a good dancer, so they sent a message to tell my mother that I should come to try out. My parents didn’t tell me. If you want to be a professional you need to join a professional school before age 11. I saw the letter when I was 10 and asked, “Why you don’t let me try?” I really wanted to do it. I talked to my mother about it for a long time, and my father said, “If you want to try and be a professional, you must join the best school.” So I tried out and I got in.
At that time I didn’t really know what ballet was. It was not so popular at that time—during Chairman Mao’s time. At home, when I was young, my mother had some videos, so I could see some productions. I went to the school and wanted to try Chinese dance, but ended up trying both. The teacher said that I needed to choose one, ballet or Chinese dance. All the students said that with ballet there was more chance to go out [of China] in the future, so I chose ballet.
In China, I stayed with the National Ballet for seven years. I wanted to dance in more than just Chinese productions. There were not so many Western productions [in China] when I was there, so I wanted to go out to try more things.
My first step was to go to Hong Kong. Having a Chinese passport makes it difficult to travel since you need a visa. You must go to the dance company and join their class. They see your performance and decide whether to give you a contract.