Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c11.s2.t8.7

v2.c11.s2.t8.7

**Study in India** With the encouragement of “master Indian dance” from Zhou Enlai, Zhang Jun devoted her best years to Indian dance. For the same reason she is known to all, but only until in 1980 did she go to India as an overseas student for learning dance. In order to learn more in limited time, she worked for 15 hours a day with her partner, and mastered many kinds of dance within a year. Finally, she obtained the honourary degree of Darpana Academy of Performing Arts. In 1981, she was invited to write entries about classical Indian dance forms, including Bharatanatyam, Manipuri, Kathakali and Kuchipudi for ‘*Encyclopedia of China · Dance and Music*’, later authorised by the Indian Embassy in China to write two entries of Odissi and Kathak. In the spring of 1982, the China Oriental Performing Arts Group first opened an Indian dance class to teach students Bharatanatyam, Alarippu, Odissi, Manipuri and Kathak. These dances received high praise during the public performance of China Oriental Performing Arts Group, and from then on, Indian dance became one of the traditional strengths of China Oriental Performing Arts Group. In addition, Zhang Jun trained singing actors in dance, and enabled them to better perform an India-Pakistan song. In 1982 and 1987, Zhang Jun twice went to India for studies, and within two years, she learned the courses which Indian students usually need a decade to learn. After returning home, she began to cultivate successors, providing guidance to professional actors, and opened an Indian dance class for children from the art guidance centre of China Oriental Performing Arts Group. In 1988, when India’s Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited China, he specially commissioned officials from Indian Embassy in China to go to Zhang Jun’s home and presented her with foot bells for dance, and met many Chinese experts, including Zhang Jun in the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse. In 1990, Zhang Jun and her colleague Yu Haiyan jointly launched the “Dunhuang dance and Indian dance appreciation party”, and put the comparative study of dance on stage, which opened up a new situation for the future in-depth study of India-China dance. In 1991, President of India, R. Venkataraman visited China. Zhang Jun, together with Lin Ping, Zhao Xiaozhen, Li Mowen performed Indian dance for the President and his entourage, receiving high praise. Later, she went to India for studyies at the invitation of the President, with her student Su Baohua. During this period in India, R. Venkataraman invited them to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In 1995, Outstanding Talents-Autumn Evening Party was held, with all modern Chinese masters of dance gathering together. And Zhang Jun and a four-year-old pupil Zhang Mengyang performed Kathak Pas De Deux, letting the audience enjoy the master’s elegant demeanour and see the hope of the future dance. In 1999, Zhang Jun led her students, Jin Shanshan and others to record the teaching video of *Coursebook of Bharata Natya*. The video was awarded “the second prize of the third national education audio-visual products” at that time, and has been popular for many years and it became a necessary teaching material for Indian dance students. In September 2002, Zhang Jun opened a Bharatanatyam course in oriental class in Beijing Dance Academy, and her performance gained the high praise from Indian ambassadress at the time. With her help, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations invited all the teachers and students to visit India, which is made it Zhang Jun's eighth visit to India. Indian dance blossomed in China under her cultivation.