China News Service, Shanghai, November 4th (Wang Ji) As the "off-site repertoire" of the 5th China International Import Expo people-to-people and cultural exchange platform, led by the famous ballet artist Tan Yuanyuan, and a number of overseas Chinese dancers participated in the new dance drama "White Snake". "The world premiered at the Shanghai Grand Theater on the evening of the 4th, reinterpreting the "Millennium Legend" from the perspective of contemporary women.
The play not only contains the classic plot elements of the "White Snake" story, but also breaks through ancient legends, endows it with a contemporary symbolic meaning, and explores the self-cultivation and transformation of contemporary women's spiritual world.
Through the fusion of ballet, Chinese dance, modern dance, martial arts and other elements, and the use of multimedia technology, top Chinese artists at home and abroad have jointly presented this contemporary oriental stage aesthetic work that combines exquisite modernity with traditional Jiangnan.
Rehearsal photo of the dance drama "White Snake".
Photo courtesy of Shanghai Grand Theater
Tan Yuanyuan, a Chinese dancer who has been active on the international stage all the year round, starred in "The Wife" and "Bai Suzhen" in "White Snake", and served as the artistic director of the dance drama for the first time.
In 2020, Tan Yuanyuan and Zhang Xiaoding, the general manager of the Shanghai Grand Theater, hit it off and decided to put the story of "White Snake" on the stage to show Bai Suzhen the truth, kindness and beauty of traditional Chinese women. back.
"The dance drama "White Snake" uses Western ballet and Chinese classical dance and folk dance to express this classic story, and to put Bai Suzhen in my mind on the stage, I think it is a very meaningful thing. This is a new kind of Dance vocabulary and art are sublimated in the process of continuous innovation." Tan Yuanyuan told reporters.
Rehearsal photo of the dance drama "White Snake".
Photo courtesy of Shanghai Grand Theater
Guo Chengwu, the principal dancer of the Australian National Ballet, is one of the overseas Chinese dancers familiar to domestic audiences. This time he plays "husband" in the play.
Different from the usual Western themes, "White Snake" is Guo Chengwu's first dance drama based on Chinese legends in many years.
He revealed that he likes Chinese costume dramas very much, and has always wanted to try to combine Western ballet with Chinese costumes. Being able to participate in "White Snake" is also a wish.
Li Jiabo, the actor of "Xu Xian", was the Principal of Hong Kong Ballet for 10 years, and now he is the well-known UP master "Ballet Shaobao"; Cao Chi, who plays "Psychiatrist" and "Fa Hai", is from Birmingham, UK Former Principal Dancer of the Royal Ballet, has performed the main roles in almost all of the company's ballets.
Both of them confessed that they have always played western characters such as princes and nobles, and they are looking forward to expressing eastern characters in ballet and other dance vocabulary.
Rehearsal photo of the dance drama "White Snake".
Photo courtesy of Shanghai Grand Theater
"I am deeply honored and proud to be able to collaborate with the best and best Chinese artists in the world during such a special period, and present this artwork to the audience after refining and sublimating it." New York City Ballet and Dutch Dance Theater Edwaard Liang, a former dancer who choreographed "White Snake", said with emotion.
It is reported that the dance drama "White Snake" has received multiple invitations and plans to start a tour next year to show the world the stage interpretation of Chinese stories.
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