Jia Wu
"Situ-Asian"

Dance film in China
Developing a new generation of dance filmmakers
as led by DFA Representative Jia Wu
Jia Wu, a young choreographer from the Beijing Dance Academy and a 2007 graduate of UCLA, is developing a curriculum and touring program in China that was launched in the fall of 2007 with the help of DFA's resources and award winning videos. Jia Wu began her project with lecture-screenings September 26-October 7, 2007at Beijing Dance Academy, Beijing Normal University and in Guangzhou at South China Normal University and South China Technical University.

In January, 2009, Jia Wu will return to the Beijing Dance Academy with Canadian director Daniel Conrad to teach the first dance for the camera course.
Daniel Conrad has been making dance videos for over 10 years, one of his latest being AFTERNOON OF THE CHIMERAS. (See clip)

Jia Wu started professional training in dance at the age of five and began to perform as a soloist and principal dancer shortly thereafter. In 2001 Jia got her B.A in Chinese dance performance and choreography at Beijing Dance Academy (graduating with honors) and worked as a full-time dance instructor in the Dance Department of Music School at South China Normal University. In 2004 Jia came to the United States to pursue her MFA degree at UCLA. Her current work applies Dance on Camera and Asian dance elements as well as Asain aesthetics to interpret modern issues such as globalization, feminism, and racialism.

Jia received awards for outstanding performance and choreography at the Chinese National Dance Competition in 2000 (Shanxi Province), the most prestigious dance competition in China. Her collaborating works received the Best Performance Award in the International University Music Festival in France in 2004, her work on Dance on Camera was selected into Dance Camera West Dance Film Festival, Los Angeles in 2007 and is also the recipient of a 2006 American Dance Festival Scholarship, 2007 DanceWeb Scholarship from ImPulsTanz Festival in Vienna, 2007 Choreography Lab Scholarship in Jacob’s Pillow Festival, the Evelyn and Mo Ostin Performing Arts Award, the Edna & Yu-Shan Han Scholarship, and the Clifton Webb Scholarship from the School of the Arts and Architecture at UCLA.

Jia has performed her contemporary choreography and traditional works on programs in China, Japan, France, Vienna, Mexico, and the United States. Jia' s choreography has been presented at the 2006 American Dance Festival and in a Gala Concert at the 2007 American College Dance Festival. Her work has also been presented in Los Angeles at USC’s Bing Theater, UC Irvine’s Claire Trevor Theatre, and Royce Hall and Glorya Kaufman Hall at UCLA. She has received commissions from Chinese National TV Company (CCTV), Hu Nan Province TV Company (HNTV), Guang Zhou City TV company (GZTV) and other institutions.

To communicate with Jia Wu, please e-mail her at:jiawu@ucla.edu

"The Other Shore," choreography by Jia Wu