Modern dance

Stevenson helped China develop its modern dance. "In the beginning, the Ministry of Culture said, what do you think we need now in dance, and I said choreography," Stevenson recalled.

"I said, you have to learn something about modern dance. They all laughed. The interpreter explained to me that to them, the word modern sounded like maodan in Chinese - cat egg. That was a good laugh."

Stevenson began teaching choreography by asking each student to find a little piece of music and do something of their own.

"The first boy had a little piece of music and he came out with a sword and clocked a hero. The second guy came out with a sword and clocked it. Everyone was like a hero," he said.

"In the end, I got one boy and I tied ... his hand and his arm to the bar and he's lying on the floor. I said, now choreograph something. So he went and I said, now you're using your imagination."

In 1985, Stevenson worked with the academy to design and develop China's first Department of Choreography. Many students from the program became China's first generation of influential modern dance choreographers.

"All those boys in that class would become so successful in different ways," Stevenson said. "One of them choreographed dance for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics."

Stevenson also had extensive collaboration with the National Ballet of China. He staged his works L and Three Preludes with the company in 1980.

In 1982, working with a famed Chinese costume designer, composer and conductor, he created and staged a piece called Zheng Banqiao, namesake of an 18th-century artist said to have been most renowned for his skills at painting bamboo. The program won critical claim when it was premiered in Houston.

In 1995, Stevenson brought Houston Ballet to China for a two-week tour of his Romeo and Juliet. More than 5 million Chinese watched the ballet through live TV broadcast.

In 2002, Stevenson worked with the National Ballet of China and created a new piece, Fountain of Tears, based on Russian music and a poem by Russian poet Pushkin. "It worked quite well in China. People really liked it," Stevenson said.

Nation's award

The last time Stevenson visited China was in 2018 when he collaborated with the National Ballet of China to stage Cinderella that he choreographed.

At the opening night, Stevenson was surprised by an award presentation: he was named one of the 40 "Most Influential Foreign Experts" for the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up, a prestigious honor bestowed by the country.

Stevenson misses China and wishes that he could spend some time there once more.

"I still have a lot of friends there, and some of them are as old as I am, 90 or something.

"I was invited last year to go back to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Beijing Dance Academy, but I could not get on a plane, it was just too much for me. I am so upset that I can't go back to China and see them. My heart was there but my body wasn't."

mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com