10 years of ballet 'Red Lantern' marked
- Source: Global Times
- [10:36 March 11 2011]
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Dancers of Raise the Red Lantern perform on stage.
By Jiang Yuxia
Having staged more than 400 shows in over 20 major cities in China and around the world, classical ballet Raise the Red Lantern is returning to the capital over the weekend to celebrate the tenth year of its world premier. It is a bold and dramatic adaptation of Zhang Yimou's 1991 movie of the same title, which takes a critical look at the complicated relationships of wives and concubines in feudal China.
Choreographed by Wang Xinpeng and Wang Yuanyua and directed by Zhang, the piece has won critical acclaim since debuting in 2001 for its combination of classical ballet and Peking Opera dance movements, as well as its spectacular staging and costume design.
The weekend shows presented at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) will feature leading dancers from the National Ballet of China (NBC), some of whom have played the same major roles since the beginning.
The dancers "have been reflecting on the roles over time Whenever they are on stage, they incorporate their own experience and understanding work during the last decade into the work," said Feng Ying, director of the ballet troupe. "Each of them will have a different interpretation of the characters, but all of them will be vivid and moving," she added.
Elements of Chinese culture are also easily recognizable in the show: the rattling sound of a mahjong game and the clanging percussion of a traditional Chinese orchestra are also infused into the original score by Chen Qigang.
