A dazzling dancing winter wonderland
By Chen Jie ( China Daily)
Updated: 2004-12-22 09:14

The Beijing International Dance Festival includes 50 shows of 14 productions, highlighting classical ballet, contemporary dance and folk dance.

The National Ballet of China opened the Second Beijing International Dance Festival last night with its latest production "Sylvia" at Poly Theatre.

Balleria Zhu Yan in the title role sparkled in the technical fireworks in her solos and in the duet with shepherd Aminta by Li Jun in the last act.

The show will go on tonight. The festival, which is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Beijing municipal government, features 50 shows of 14 productions and will last till January 25.

Established ballet dancers from both home and abroad will also join hands to present a gala show at the Great Hall of the People on December 29.

The National Ballet of China will host a three-day seminar to discuss the future of Chinese ballet, world trends, marketing and ballet company management with dancers and dance companies managers from the US, Australia, Denmark, Japan, Belgium, France, Austria and Czech Republic.

"This year's festival covers a wide range of dance genres from classical ballet, contemporary dance, folk dance and others," says Feng Shuangbai, vice-president of China Dancers' Association and director of Dance Institute of China Academy of Arts.

"It's not only a festival to broaden the local audience's vision of ballet, but an opportunity for Chinese dancers to communicate with their counterparts from abroad," he says.

"We are looking forward to the festival during which we will give five shows of two repertoires," says Zhao Ruheng, president of National Ballet of China.

"I am also proud to host the seminar on the development of ballet. Chinese ballet has won an important position in the world, more and more Chinese dancers have won international awards and more and more Chinese repertoires have won audience's favour," says Zhao.

The company will also perform "Raise the Red Lantern" on December 24 to 26.

"Both 'Sylvia' and 'Raise the Red Lantern' are very successful works that the company produced," Zhao said.

After a controversial premiere in May 2001, "Raise the Red Lantern" has won applause, more and more audience ask the company to stage it again and again in last three years, says Zhao.

According to her, the work received unexpected acclaim from audiences and critics when the company toured France and Britain in October 2003.

With the score by Leo Delibes (1836-91), the Greco-Roman labyrinthine tale "Sylvia" was first staged in China in 1980 by the Central Ballet of China (now the National Ballet of China). It was the result of the collaboration between the company and Opera de Paris which staged the ballet choreographed by Lycette Darsonval in 1979.

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This year, as a project of the French Year in China, the two companies joined hands again to re-stage the work. Ballet masters Lionel Delanoe, Laurent Novis and Claude de Vulpian helped to rehearse the show based on the 1979 version of Darsonval.

It opened in late September at Peking University and has toured Shanghai, Nanjing, Hong Kong and Macao to wide acclaim.

While the Chinese company raises the curtain of the festival, the Ballet Company of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre will wrap it with "Swan Lake" and "Esmeralda" at the Great Hall of the People on January 24 and 25.

Both works were choreographed by Vladimir Burmeister (1904-1971). Burmeister headed the Ballet Company of the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich Danchenko Moscow Academic Music Theatre for three decades (1941-1971). This period of Russian ballet history may be rightfully called the Epoch of Burmeister.

Although "Swan Lake" is familiar to local audiences, Luo Xiaochuan, general manager of Suoyou Culture, the company presenting the show, stresses that Burmeister's version is very different from others. Its premiere in 1953 was an important event in the history of Russian choreography.

It is not his boast to promote the show. This production is still unique in many senses. Last year, Bourmeister's "Swan Lake" had great success in London, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

In 1960 Burmeister became the first Soviet choreographer to be officially invited to work at the Opera de Paris. The French production of "Swan Lake" premiered in 1960.

The three-act and eight-scene "Esmeralda" is a tragic love story based on Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," showing the hopeless love of Quasimodo for the Gypsy girl Esmeralda.

The leading ballerinas Natalia Ledovskaya and Natalia Krapivina will respectively dance Esmeralda and Odette.

"Bourmeister's 'Esmeralda' displays the characteristic of the ballet company that is acting combining with dancing. And the intention of drama is impressive. Because Stanislavsky is one of the founders of the company," says Yang Shaofu, veteran ballet critic.

Instead of relying on traditional interpretations of their roles, dancers are encouraged to explore the motivation behind their characters, bringing a greater depth and drama to their performances while remaining true to the stylistic and physical demands of classical dance.

If say "Esmeralda" unfolds a well-known Western novel through ballet, "A Dream of Red Mansion" produced by Shanghai City Dance Company tells one of the most popular Chinese classical novels.

It was a great challenge for choreographer Zhao Ming to adapt the great literature work by Cao Xueqin (?1715-?63), because it is a story that almost all Chinese know and have in their imagination an idea of the main characters. What is more, there have been several productions adapted from the work including local opera, movies and TV serials.

"The hardest thing is how to interpret such a long and complicated story which portrays things happening in four big families during almost a decade," says Zhao.

He confesses that he just read the classic novel once and his version was an abridged edition.

"I believe the simpler, the better. I try to simplify the complicated relationships between all the characters and the result is a two-act 90 minute dance with only seven roles. I focus on the tragic love between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu," he says.

Love story

The production features Chinese classic dance numbers, folk dance and some acting patterns and movements unique in Chinese local operas, for example, the woman dancer flicks the long white silk sleeves.

The pas de deux between Jia and Lin when they first meet in Act One, and the following pas de trio between Jia, Lin and Xue Baochai are impressively choreographed. Jia's solo in the last scene when he realizes that he is cheated to marry Xue and decides to become a monk, demands high technique and fully expresses Jia's depression of losing Lin.

Young dancers Wu Weifeng and Shan Chong dance Jia and Lin. Both of them have given good performance since the show premiered at the opening ceremony of 2004 Shanghai International Arts Festival in October.

The score composed by Su Tsong helps to highlight the show. Su won the Oscar Award in 1988 for his composition for Bernrado Bertolucci's film "Last Emperor."

The score combines symphonic elements and Peking Opera and folk music from North China's Hebei Province.

Another major full-length Chinese dance in the festival is the four-act "Great Dream of Dunhuang Grottoes" performed by Lanzhou Song and Dance Theatare from Northwest China's Gansu Province at Beijing Exhibition Hall (Beizhan) Theatre on January 18 to 23.

This is the eighth run of the show in Beijing since its acclaimed premiere here in May 2000.

It tells the stories behind the amazing ancient murals kept at the famous Dunhuang Grottoes in Gansu Province, and of the talent of the artists who painted the murals and their hard work.

Choreographer Chen Weiya got his inspiration from the dance idioms featured on the ancient murals kept at the grottoes. The production, from choreography, music, costume and setting, all features rich flavour of the ancient Silk Road.

"I did not only tell a love story, but provide those who have never been to Dunhuang a glimpse of its splendid art and culture of Dunhuang," says choreographer Chen.

President of China Song and Dance Company, Chen has to his credits the co-operation with renowned director Zhang Yimou in the opera "Turandot" in Italy in 1996 and the Forbidden City on site production in 1997.

Set designer Gao Guangjian and light designer Sha Xiaolan, who were also involved in the production of Turandot with Chen, are part of the team for the dance drama.

"I failed to think of anything better than the Dunhuang Grottoes and the ancient murals kept in them when I designed the setting. So I just 'moved' them on stage," says Gao.

"The Great Dreams of Dunhuang Grottoes" is rich in culture of the ancient Silk Road, while "Two Thousand and One Nights" performed by Caracalla dance Theatre from Beirut, Lebanan at the Beijing Exhibition Hall (Beizhan) Theatre on January 2 to 4 will open eyes to the fantastic Arabian world.

Arabian nights

With an original music score of oriental orchestration, a majestic stage setting, the richness of detailed costumes depicting their characters and a spirited choreography, "Two Thousand and One Nights" is a dance fantasy.

It features romance yet carries a dramatic tale which inflames the heart with desire, revenge and compassion.

Founded in 1970 by Abdel-Halim Caracalla, the ballet company is the largest and well-known in the Arabian world. Throughout the years of Lebanese war, the Caracalla Dance Theatre never conceded to the ongoing strife, but continued to be artistic and cultural ambassadors, enthralling a global theatrical audience.

In 2001, the theatre premiered "Two Thousands and One Nights," which is a musical adaptation of Arabian Nights.

Geographically close to Lebanon, Magic Entertainment Company from Turkey will bring the "Magic You Ney" to Poly Theatre on January 18 to 27.

The "ney" is a Turkish wind instrument with a history extending back to quite ancient times. This well known instrument holds an especially important place in Turkish classical and religious music.

According to Cem Kinay, producer of the production, Turks believe God gave them the reed flute and named it "ney."

Two years ago, Beijing's audience took pleasure in watching "Sultans of the Dance" also produced by Kinay. Now he returns with "Ney," a big dance show featuring 60 dancers and various folk dances of Turkey and neighbour regions.

"It is a perfect contemporary interpretation of the old folk dances," says Ou Jianping, Beijing-based dance critic, "With its professional light effects and mystical reflections, the show turns into an enchanting feast where one could not discriminate between reality and illusion."

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Modern dance choreographer Shani Mitchell from England also contributed to the show.

Cihan Sezer, the Belgium-born composer scores the music that bears jazz and rock patterns in folk tunes.

If you are fascinated by Turkish culture and want to try out more, move to the Great Hall of the People where the other show Kinay mentions, "The Anatolian Fire" will be presented on January 19 to 23.

In contrast with these folk dances from abroad, Chinese dancers will perform two shows rich in local flavour.

"Zha Hua Nu" performed by Hunan Song and Dance Company from Central China's Hunan Province displays the life of "Zha Hua Nu," women of Miao and Tujia ethnic groups who live in the western Hunan Province and who lead life by weaving and dying cloth with printed patterns.

Without a full-length story, the show tells the life of those hard-working Miao and Tujia women, their love and the local customs through choreography and folk music.

As the title suggests, "Beautiful Scenes of the Zhuang Ethnic Region" produced by Nanning Song and Dance Company from Southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, features culture and custom of the Zhuang people.