The dance drama "Xi Shi" "Returns Home" in the New Year interprets the power of women and the feelings of family and country

　　China News Service, Shaoxing, February 3rd (Xiang Jing, Xu Chenchen, Zhou Qihan) "Can Xi Shi and Fan Li's 'CP fans' be sweet?" "How to interpret the momentum of 'Three thousand Vietnamese armor can swallow Wu'" "Xi Shi and best friend Zheng What are the highlights of Dan’s sisterhood?”… From February 2nd to 3rd, the large-scale original dance drama “Xi Shi” was performed one after another at the Xishi Grand Theater in Zhuji City, Shaoxing, Zhejiang, the “hometown of Xi Shi”. "The story of Xi Tzu lights up the Spring Festival.

Dance drama "Xi Shi" performance scene. Photo courtesy of the Propaganda Department of the Zhuji Municipal Party Committee

　　Xi Shi is one of the four beauties in ancient China. There have always been many art forms using Xi Tzu as the character, such as the Yue opera "Xi Shi Broken Cable", the immersive performance show "Dream of Xi Tzu", the Huansha River night tour project "Meeting Xi Tzu", etc.

　　Dance drama is a stage art that uses dance as the main means of expression. The reporter learned that the dance drama "Xi Shi" is a brand-new work created by a national-level team with the ancient Yue culture and Xi Shi culture as the background and traditional stories as the background. It aims to "endorse" a city through a drama and interpret at the same time Xi Shi’s feelings about her family and country.

　　It is understood that after the dance drama "Xi Shi" premiered in Hangzhou in June 2023, it has been repeatedly polished and rehearsed, and started a national tour in January this year. It has been successfully performed 10 times in Anhui, Hubei, Jiangsu and other provinces. This is the final stop to give back to my hometown.

　　In an interview, Wang Taorui, the chief choreographer and director of the play, said that many of the creative techniques of the dance drama "Xi Shi" are quite different from traditional dance dramas. This is a dance drama that pays great attention to the expression of oriental minimalist aesthetics, combining oriental elegance with modern minimalism. The combination leaves enough room for the audience’s imagination.

A scene from the dance drama "Xi Shi". Photo courtesy of the Propaganda Department of the Zhuji Municipal Party Committee

　　At the scene, pavilions, mountains, ships, etc. were hung upside down in the air, presenting a mirror-like scene of flowers and water, allowing the audience to feel an ethereal feeling that "it is better to have water here than to have water here."

　　"The stage design of "Xi Shi" creates two layers of fantasy, both presented through an inverted stage set. One layer is Xi Shi's fantasy of love, and the other layer is the illusion that King Gou Jian of Yue created for the state of Wu in order to restore the country. ." Xu Dingwei, the stage designer of the dance drama "Xi Shi", said in an interview that the interaction between reality and reality and the two-line narrative are the "ingenuity" of the stage presentation of the drama.

　　Through this drama, the audience can not only get a glimpse of the ancient Chinese tap dance "Xinggang Dance" pioneered by Xi Shi, but also enjoy the "Ship Boxing" element in Wuyue culture, which "turns boxing into dance" to express the ambition of the Three Thousand Yuejia Love and hatred, and Yue Wang Goujian's ambition to conquer the clouds are vividly displayed.

　　"Dance is an art form of the Chinese nation. We respect the local culture and use the body language of dance to express the land and water. This is the spirit I want to convey to the younger generation." Yang Liping, a well-known dancer and cultural and art consultant in Zhuji City, said, The dance drama "Xi Shi" well embodies inheritance and innovation. Local culture and dance art should be created in "symbiosis" to survive.

　　"We hope that every hometown audience will have the opportunity to enter the Xishi Grand Theater to watch the dance drama "Xi Shi" and feel the female power of Xi Shi who cares about the world, so that the feelings of family and country that always maintain the original intention will become a resonance." Director of the dance drama "Xi Shi" Planner and chief producer Xie Qiong said this. (over)