Qemberxanim

Qemberxanim in 1947

Qemberxanim (Chinese: 康巴尔汗·艾买提; alternatively romanized as Kangba'erhan, Qambarkhan, or Kemberhan Emet; c. 1922 – March 1994) was a Uyghur dancer and choreographer.

Biography

Qemberxanim was born in Kashgar, Xinjiang. In 1927, due to financial constraints, her family moved to a town in then Soviet Union to stay with relatives. In 1935, at the age of 13, she was admitted to the ballet studio at the Uzbek Musical-Drama Theater led by Tamara Khanum (later the Uzbek Republican Ballet School), and two years later she was admitted to the Red Banner Ensemble in Almaty. In the musical Anarhan produced by the Almaty ensemble, she performanced the solo dance "Boat Song", and was the lead dancer in the trio dance and group dance.

In 1939, she entered The Moscow Choreographic Institute and from there she studied Ukrainian folk dance, Russian classical dance and folk dance, and Azerbaijani dance. During her studies, she once performed on the same stage in the Kremlin with Soviet dancer Galina Ulanova and others. After graduating in 1941, she returned to Tashkent and joined the local Red Banner Ensemble.

Tamara Khanum, left, with whom Qemberxanim studied, talks with her, right, in 1952.

In April 1942, Qemberxanim returned to Xinjiang. In May 1942, she participated in the song and dance competition of 14 ethnic groups in Xinjiang held in Dihua. She and her younger sister won first place for their dance performances. In September 1947, as the troupe leader, she went to Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Taiwan and other places to perform with the Xinjiang Youth Song and Dance Visiting Troupe. She was known as the "Flower of Uyghur". During her performance in Shanghai, she met with Dai Ailian and Mei Lanfang.

Qemberxanim, right, being received by Mao Zedong, left, during National Day activities in late September 1950.

In 1949, she performed at a gala to welcome the Chinese People's Liberation Army to Xinjiang and was encouraged by the country's leaders. Several of her dances, including "Drumming", "Linpadai", and "Plate Dance", were included in the film documentary Chinese National Unity. In 1950, she went to Beijing as a representative of Xinjiang to participate in National Day celebrations and was received by Mao Zedong and other party and state leaders.

In the early 1950s, she created and choreographed the dances "The Liberated Girl", "The War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea", and adapted "Liberation Army Dance". In 1956, she visited the Soviet Union with the Chinese Dancers Investigation Group. She successively served as the director of the ethnic department of Northwest Arts College, the director of the art department of Xinjiang University, the vice president of Xinjiang Arts School (the later Xinjiang Arts Institute), the chair of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Dancers Association, and the vice chair of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Federation of Literary and Art Circles. In November 1979, she was elected vice chair of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and vice chair of the Chinese Dancers Association. She was the vice chair of the 4th to 6th Xinjiang Committee of the CPPCC. She was also a member of the 5th to 6th National Committee of the CPPCC.

In October 1992, an art foundation named after her was established.

She died in March 1994.