A nymph alights on the stage

Works of literature have often been the inspiration for theater. And the period of the Three Kingdoms (AD 220-280) is considered the golden age of classic Chinese literature.

Shui Yue Luo Shen, the latest dance-drama by the Zhengzhou Song and Dance Troupe, is an adaptation of Ode to the Nymph of The River Luo (Luo Shen) written by the poet Cao Zhi of the Three Kingdoms period, and is choreographed and directed by Tong Ruiru.

Luo Shen in Cao's poem is a goddess of peerless beauty, "elegant as a startled swan and supple as a swimming dragon". She is believed to be the daughter of Emperor Fuxi of pre-historic legends, who becomes a nymph after drowning in the Luo River.