The Back Page: Edwaard Liang - Spreads His Wings
Talent, ambition, hard work, self motivation and a dream…all these terms might be applied to Edwaard Liang. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Edwaard moved with his family to Marin County, California when he was five years old. For a hyper active boy, karate classes were just the thing to focus on and focus he did becoming a state champion…”that was fun” he says. Following his older sister to ballet class was the next challenge. Edwaard studied with Maria Vegh, who noticed his potential and pushed him to continue his training. He became enthralled with ballet watching videos of Gelsey Kirkland and Baryshnikov and documentaries of the Russian companies.
A family situation brought him to New York in 1989. He was on his own, at an early age with a chip on his shoulder and a burning desire for success. Aiming for a place at the American Ballet Theatre School, his audition did not prove successful but he was accepted on scholarship at School of American Ballet. It was the time before SAB had the dorms for out of town students and Liang worked at the local McDonalds to pay for his room and board. While still at the school, he entered the prestigious Prix de Lausanne competition in Switzerland learning his variations and rehearsing on his own. Edwaard admits that he was moody and difficult, but Nathalie Gleboff, the Executive Director was very supportive and a mentor. All this hard work paid off when he emerged as a winner. Returning to New York, he received the Mae L. Wien Award from SAB and joined the New York City Ballet in 1993 at the invitation of Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martins. As a member of the corps de ballet, he danced a full repertoire of ballets by Balanchine, Robbins and Martins rewarded him with his first solo in Calcium Light Night, which Liang considered a great honor.
Former NYCB soloist Edwaard Liang, Courtesy of the New York City Ballet photo by Paul Kolnik
The company had many male dancers and although he learned a lot of roles, he never got the opportunity to perform them. Feeling that he could go only so far, he left the New York City Ballet in 2001. Edwaard auditioned for Fosse featuring the choreography of Bob Fosse. He worked with Ann Reinking and Bebe Neuwirth preparing for his Broadway debut and performed the lead role of Mr. Bojangles with Ben Vereen for the PBS presentation and also the DVD. He remained with the show for nine months and then was invited by Dwight Rhoden to perform as a guest artist with the contemporary company Complexions. Liang later joined the Netherlands Dans Theater and also danced as a guest artist with the Norwegian National Ballet. He is also featured in the New York City Ballet Workout book and DVD.
It was in the Netherlands that his interest began, on a dare, as a choreographer and he made several ballets for workshops presented by Netherlands Dans Theater 1. He rejoined NYCB as a soloist in 2004 continuing to dance the companies’ standard repertoire and create roles in ballets by Christopher Wheeldon and other young choreographers working with the company. Liang was also given the opportunity to choreograph through the auspices of The New York Choreographic Institute, an affiliate of New York City Ballet. His ballets are in the repertoire of Pacific Northwest Ballet, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and Wheeldon’s new company Morphoses. Listening to music is very important in the creation of his works. His musical interests run from classical to minimalist. He goes through the process of working out the story line from the music and the choreographic segments with the dancers.
In his spare time, Edwaard looks forward to spending time with friends, scouting out new restaurants, reading and of course listening to music. With is Buddhist/Christian background, meditation plays a big part in his life. He will continue to dance as long as he can and for the future looks forward to creating new works for dance companies throughout the world. He would someday like to have his own production company, producing works for commercials and films.
Education is very important. Liang received his high school diploma by correspondence from the University of Nebraska and continues to gain college credits when time permits. He says that winning the Prix de Lausanne opened doors for him. His advice to students and young dancers is to work as hard as you can and believe in yourself. He feels that criticism will make you a better artist and to always remember that it is an honor to be a part of the dance world.