Wu Xiaobang

Wu Xiaobang
吴晓邦

Dubbed the "Father of Chinese Dance", Wu Xiaobang is a great Chinese dancer, choreographer, theorist and educator. Born in Taicang, Jiangsu in 1906, Wu went to Japan three times to study ballet and modern dance from 1929 to 1936. After returning to China, he was determined to establish a new school of Chinese dance to reflect the country’s real life. His early works, including Funeral March, The Song of Guerrilla, and The Sorrow of Love and Hunger, are all fresh reflections of people’s sufferings and desire for freedom during times of war.

Wu is also the author of monographs on dance, such as An Introduction to New Dance Art and New Theories on Dance and Dance Studies. After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, he served as the head of the China Ethnic Song & Dance Ensemble and the chairman of the China Dancers Association.