Troupe putting its best foot forward

The Nederlands Dans Theater, seen here performing Solo Echo, with choreography by Crystal Pite, appeared at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing on Friday and will perform thereagain on Saturday. Photo provided to China Daily

Editor's Note:. A variety of cultural activities will be held during the APEC meetings inBeijing, providing delegates with ideal opportunities to relax China Daily reporter ChenNan takes a look at a dance company and a string quartet, just two of the attractions onoffer.

For modern dance lovers, the Nederlands Dans Theater is synonymous with the bestcontemporary dance in the world.

With three companies under its name-the NDT 1, which gathers the top dancers of the NDT; the NDT 2, which offers a platform for young dancing talent; and the NDT 3, for dancers olderthan 40-the troupe has created an international reputation for its pioneering exploration intechniques of dance and creative choreography.

At the ongoing Dance Festival at the National Center for the Performing Arts, 28 dancers fromthe NDT 1 performed in Beijing on Friday and will perform again on Saturday.

In 2008, the NDT 1 and 2 performed at the NCPA in May and October, with works by theNDT's longtime artistic director and choreographer, Jiri Kylian.

The 2014 performances comprise five works, including Hello Earth by choreographer MarcoGoecke and Softly as I Leave You and Stop Motion, both choreographed by two of thecompany's resident choreography partners, Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon.

Medhi Walerski, an NDT 1 dancer and choreographer, will perform one of his works, Chamber.

Created in 2013, Chamber was commissioned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of IgorStravinsky's composition The Rite of Spring, choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky.

After arriving from Paris and joining the NDT 2 in 2001, Walerski listened to Stravinsky'smusic as he began to create the work. He also read diaries of dancer-choreographer Nijinskyand other books to seek inspiration.

With the contrast of silence and noise, chaos and order, Chamber, a 30-minute work featuringnine dancers, was premiered on Oct 4, 2012, at Lucent Danstheater in The Hague, Netherlands, where the NDT is based.

"The work saw me leap from being a dancer to a choreographer," Walerski said.

Walerski, who began studying dance as a child, recalls that he liked improvising dance athome. Now a choreographer and dancer with NDT 1, Walerski credits the Dutch dance troupewith helping young dancers discover and polish their choreographic ability.

Two Chinese dancers-Lou Menghan and Wang Jianhui-will appear with NDT 1 at theNCPA to perform in Chamber, Solo Echo and Stop Motion.

Lou, 32, who joined the NDT 2 in 2007 and was promoted to the NDT 1 in 2009, danced withNDT 2 in Beijing in 2008.

He was attracted by the idea of launching the NDT, when it was founded in 1959 by BenjaminHarkarvy, Aart Verstegen and Carel Birnie along with a group of 18 members of the DutchNational Ballet, aiming to break away from the traditional ballet system.

"When I was in the NDT 2, I danced like crazy and absorbed like a sponge, which opened myvision about dancing and changed my way of making moves," Lou said.

Wang Jianhui, 24, who joined the NDT 2 in 2010 and then the NDT 1 in 2013, said: "I felt Ihad grown up and become an adult with the NDT The experience with the company waschallenging and rewarding.."