MAP 09VA

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2009

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THE VA ACTORSSun Peng

Va nationality lives in south-western Yunnan Prov-ince of China. Their population in China is around 400,000 now. One of the main sources of revenue of young Va people is to attend a local performance school and then go to show for money in the city, especially in the southeast coast of China.

Ai Luo is the leader of the biggest Va art ensemble called Black Wind, the name came from the black skin of Va people. This year his business is popular in Shang Hai and Hang Zhou, he lives here, and one of his teams with more than 50 young people works here.

Training and performance is their life, and they are a part of the city’s life. Looking forward a better life, danc-ing on the hard shell of city.

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As the boss of the whole team, Ai Luo hole the abso-lute power, the only sofa in the yard outside the mem-bers’ accommodation is his, when there is a meeting, eve-ryone else will be standing.

In the training, he used to show the strictness and pow-er with a stick in hand and USA flag trousers.

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1/2/3 - Ai Luo and members in the training room, preparing for the com-ing performance

4 - Ai Luo is on a meeting in the yard

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A actor is at drill in the training room. Hang Zhou, China.

A talented actor can go up on the stage in 3 or 4 month after the be-ginning of training.

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More than 50 people live in 6 rooms far from the downtown of Hangzhou, they gat up at 6 AM everyday to do the training. Then they enjoy the rest of the day, finally go to the stage to perform the show. 7 days a week, paid one or two thousand RMB a month.

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Ni is in the training room. Hang Zhou, China

Ni is the nephew of the boss, he likes dancing, so followed his un-cle came here. With a special identity, boss is stricter to him than others. He said he could not be away from this pressure.

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For the new performance Impression West Lake, actors need to put on rain boots and rehearse on the west lake with feet in the water everyday. When audience watching the show, they cannot see any actors but only the props. To the star-dream-ers, it is not good news.

Rehearsing on the west lake for Impression West Lake,

Hang Zhou, China

Street dance is one of most popular among all the shows, only the skilled and handsome boy will be sent to this show, in Shanghai Happy Valley, they do perform this twice everyday.

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Some old actors can accustom themselves to city life easily, but some newcomers are still very curious about everything different from their hometown.

Background of the performance in Shanghai, a young actress is choosing the wallpaper for her mobile phone. Happy valley, Shanghai, China.