前段時間，舞蹈藝術家楊麗萍分享的視頻下方出現了這樣的評論：“一個女人最大的失敗是沒一個兒女，所謂活出了自己都是蒙人的?！薄吧怀龊⒆泳褪鞘??！?/span>
事件引起熱議后，楊麗萍藝術官宣賬號曬出一段楊麗萍的采訪視頻回應，她接受李湘的采訪，李湘問到如果有自己的孩子傳承下去不會更好嗎？楊麗萍說“一只小螞蟻也是我的孩子，我的舞蹈作品也是我的女兒”。
“只要自己認為過得好，沒有傷害其他人，就可以。”事實上，早在幾年前，楊麗萍在一個采訪中，就已經對生孩子的問題作出過回答“有些人的生命是為了傳宗接代，有些是享受，有些是體驗，有些是旁觀。我是生命的旁觀者，我來世上，就是看一棵樹怎么生長，河水怎么流，白云怎么飄，甘露怎么凝結，花兒怎么開的。”
作為中國最知名的舞蹈家之一，楊麗萍把她的一生都奉獻給了舞蹈，她的人生也遠不是生育可以定義的——她是中國第一個舉辦個人舞蹈晚會的舞蹈家，享受國務院“政府特殊津貼”。（給做出突出貢獻的專家、學者、技術人員發放政府特殊津貼）
《雀之靈》、《兩棵樹》、《云南映象》、《月光》......楊麗萍的作品獲得過日本大阪國際藝術節最高藝術獎、中華民族20世紀舞蹈經典作品金獎、第二屆全國舞蹈比賽創作一等獎、表演第一名等，是 中國舞蹈的驕傲。
早在2005年，《紐約時報》就發文稱贊楊麗萍為中國的孔雀公主，我們摘選了其中一部分，來看看孔雀公主的故事吧——
英文來源：《紐約時報》 翻譯：胡文明
Ms. Yang is a dancer by nature. She was born about 100 miles northwest of here, in the town of Dali, the eldest of four children. Her parents and grandparents, members of the Bai ethnic minority, were farmers in a nearby village. As was true for everyone in their village, she said, singing and dancing were a part of their lives.
楊麗萍是一位天生的舞者。她出生于昆明西北約160公里外的大理小鎮。在楊家四子女中，楊麗萍排行老大。她的父母與祖父母均為白族，都是大理周邊村落的農民。楊麗萍說，對于村里的每個人而言，唱歌跳舞是他們生活的一部分。
"My grandmother was the best singer in the village," Ms. Yang said, grabbing a bowl of rice at a restaurant near Kunming's performing arts center. "I clearly remember, when I was 6 years old, waking up and hearing my grandmother's voice. My grandfather had died and she sang all day long—all the details of their life together. This was our life. My family loved to sing and dance."
“我奶奶是我們村子里唱歌唱得最好的一個?！睏铥惼荚诶ッ魉囆g中心附近的餐館端著一碗米飯說道，“我很清楚地記得，我6歲的時候，每天一起床就能聽到奶奶的歌聲。那時候我爺爺已過世，她整天都唱歌，歌唱他們生活的各種瑣碎。唱歌跳舞就是我們的生活，我們一家都喜歡唱歌跳舞。”
From an early age, Ms. Yang loved to dance, too. At 11, after the family had moved to Xishuangbanna, a region in southern Yunnan, she joined a local dance troupe and fell in love with a popular dance that imitates the movements of the peacock, a totem of the Bai people.
楊麗萍自幼便也喜愛舞蹈。在她11歲時，全家搬遷到了云南南部的西雙版納，在那里她加入了當地的歌舞團，并愛上了當時流行的模仿孔雀動作的舞蹈，而孔雀正是白族人民的一種圖騰。
In her early 20's, after she moved to Beijing to dance with the Central Nationalities Song and Dance Ensemble, she made the peacock dance her own, recasting parts of it with deft arm and finger movements. In 1986, that choreography and dance won her first prize in a national competition. Ever since, she has been dubbed the Peacock Princess.
在她20歲剛出頭的時候，她來到北京加入了中央民族歌舞團。她的孔雀舞自成一家，將原舞的部分動作改成了靈巧的手臂、十指動作。1986年，她的編舞與舞蹈榮獲全國比賽一等獎。自此之后，她便被譽為“孔雀公主”。
Experts say Ms. Yang has not only developed a highly personal style, but has popularized Yunnan's folk dances as well.
專業人士稱楊麗萍不僅樹立了自己獨特的個人舞蹈風格，而且還讓云南的民間舞蹈流行了起來。
"She's in the first rank of dancers here in China," said Zhang Jianmin, a leading choreographer in Beijing who devised the dance sequences in Zhang Yimou's film "House of Flying Daggers." "She's a folk dancer, but she's also come up with a lot of original movements, particularly with her arms and fingers."
“她是中國一流的舞蹈演員?！北本┲璧妇帉Ъ摇埶囍\導演的電影《十面埋伏》的舞蹈設計張建民說，“她是民間舞蹈家，但她還有很多獨創的動作，尤其是手臂和十指。”
Ms. Yang said she had little formal training and prefers folk dancing to modern dance, which she associates with the expression of anguish and pain. "My dances are just showing the beautiful side of life," she said.
楊麗萍說，她幾乎沒有受過正規的舞蹈訓練，現代舞和民間舞比起來，她更喜歡民間舞，她覺得現代舞往往是表達痛苦。她表示：“我的舞蹈就是要展示生活中美好的一面?！?/strong>
Indeed, her dances are infused with grace, emphasizing the intricacies of expression possible with the hands and arms. Abruptly, she will freeze in place. Then her body snaps to life. She is by turns robotic, then fluid. Her long, slender arms and fingers—capped by extremely long fingernails that accentuate her moves—are the wings of a bird, the branches of a tree, sparks bursting into a raging fire.
事實的確如此，她的舞蹈十分優美，注重用手與臂盡可能做出各種復雜的表達。有時，她會突然僵在原地，然后猛然驚醒。她的動作時而呆板機械，時而流暢優美。她雙臂與十指纖長，長長的指甲又讓她的每一個動作都分外突出，時而如飛鳥之翼，時而如旁生枝椏，時而又如星星之火燃成熊熊烈火。
"Nature is simply the best teacher," she said. "I watch the motions of the peacock, birds, animals, anything that moves. That's how I've taught myself."
“大自然就是最好的老師?！睏铥惼颊f，“我觀察孔雀的動作，包括小鳥在內的各種動物的動作——一切會動的東西我都會注意。我就是這么自學的。”
看完楊麗萍的故事，我們就會懂得什么叫真正的“舞者”，而那些認為女性最大的價值就是生兒育女的人，恐怕永遠也無法理解生命的意義。
生活是一道永遠沒有標準答案的謎題，每個人都可以選擇自己的生活方式和人生道路，希望每一種選擇都能夠被尊重和理解，每一個生命都可以活出自己的精彩。而生育，只是人生的選擇題，而不是必選題。
