American Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish (left) says her cooperation with Chinese dancer Wang Yabin in Dream in Three Episodes has brought her closer to China. Zou Hong / China Daily

Live onstage, and at home

Pole Dance Championship held in Tianjin

"Yabin is like a sponge, absorbing everything with an open heart. She is like an extension of myself in my youth," says Roxas-Dobrish. "We are very like-minded in many aspects of dance and philosophy. What we want the audience to feel is to savor the movement. It is like tasting food, not just chewing."

Roxas-Dobrish says her cooperation with Wang has also brought her closer to China.

As part of the latest production of Yabin and Her Friends, an annual dance performance started by Wang in 2009, Dream in Three Episodes has solo, duo and group dancing. The 60-minute show fulfills Wang's longtime desire to work on dreams.

"The relationship between dreams and reality is very fascinating. Sometimes the two mingle," says Wang, who started to learn Chinese folk dance at age 9 in Tianjin. She later graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy.

The National Dance Competition winner is also known for a dance sequence from Zhang Yimou's movie House of Flying Daggers (2004) and her performances at CCTV's Spring Festival galas.

Working with Roxas-Dobrish has fulfilled one of Wang's dreams.

Despite taking jobs in films and TV and working as a writer, Wang has always preserved her identity as a dancer.

Last year, she worked with established Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui on a project named Genesis. It is part of the fifth season of Yabin and Her Friends that she performed in France, Italy and Germany. The world tour will continue until 2015.

"Such collaborations helped me discover my potential. I had gotten used to dancing to classical music but now Roxas-Dobrish has me dancing to jazz," Wang says.