Pas de deux from "Raise the Red Lantern" between the third
concubine starring Zhu Yan and her Peking Opera actor lover by Sun Jie.
[File photo] |
The National Ballet of China is entering a busy and productive end of year,
celebrating the 45th anniversary of its founding.
While its dancers are touring southward with 29 shows to Shanghai, Nanjing,
Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macao, Zhao Ruheng, president and artistic director of
the company, is preparing to host an international seminar on the development of
Chinese ballet on December 27 and 28, before she heads to Hertfordshire, England
to attend the Rural Retreat from January 7 to 9.
In its second year, the Rural Retreat, a think-tank for dancers and
directors, attracts 27 dance company heads from North America, Australia,
Scandinavia and Russia. Concerning the fast growing fame of the National Ballet
of China, director Zhao is also invited to share her views on ballet in 21st
century.
She will then move to London for the Fifth Critics' Circle National Dance
Awards ceremony hosted by the Royal Opera House on January 20, as the National
Ballet of China has been nominated the Best Foreign Dance Company, together with
the prestigious Bolshoi Ballet and Merce Cunningham Dance Company.
"It is very surprising but pleasing to know we are nominated," Zhao told
China Daily. "It might be the result of our show 'Raise the Red Lantern' in
London last November. It was our first visit to London in 17 years and we were
unexpectedly well received by audiences and critics there," she said.
Aside from the unexpected nomination at the end of this year, Zhao and her
company are celebrating the 45th anniversary of its founding, giving nearly 100
shows all year around in Beijing and other cities.
After performing "Sylvia," the latest co-production with the Opera de Paris,
at the Shanghai Grand Theatre on November 16 and 17 to close the 2004 Shanghai
International Arts Festival, the National Ballet of China gave two shows of the
"Red Detachment of Women" in Nanjing last weekend.
Beginning tonight they will perform "Sylvia" and Balanchine works at the Hong
Kong Culture Centre and Macao Culture Centre and "Raise the Red Lantern" and the
"Red Detachment of Women" in Shenzhen.
Then they will come back with "Sylvia" and "Raise the Red Lantern" for the
2004 Beijing Dance Festival at the end of December. Concluding its 45th
anniversary will be a gala show at the Great Hall of the People on December 29.
From Western to Chinese
In an old and inconspicuous four-storey building of red-brick in southern
Beijing, generations of Chinese ballerinas have sweated and strived to perfect
this art.
In 1959, the National Ballet of China (originally called the Central Ballet
of China) was established on the basis of the Beijing Dance School, the first
professional training centre for ballet founded in 1954.
Ballet experts from the former Soviet Union were the school's first artistic
directors, and trained the first group of Chinese ballet students including
Zhao.
The year 1957 saw "swans" dancing on a Chinese stage: the performance of the
classic "Swan Lake" indicated that ballet had formally entered the stage in this
country.
The company first focused on introducing traditional Western repertoire. In
the 1960s, Chinese artists began to explore the idea of combining Western ballet
technique with Chinese themes. The results, one "red" ("Red Detachment of
Women") and one "white" ("White-haired Girl") are among the company's typical
repertoire.
The "Red Detachment of Women" was the first and most successful full-length
Chinese ballet, with both the theme and content reflecting a very unique Chinese
style. The dancers even lived for months in military camps to learn swordplay in
order to portray the soldiers vividly on stage.
It is said that the "Red Detachment of Women" was a prelude to the exertions
of Chinese ballet artists trying to establish a Chinese identity using an
essentially foreign art form. The piece has been hailed as a model of the
successful combination of Western ballet technique with Chinese folk dancing.
Although the storyline of this ballet seems a bit out-dated, it still
possesses its charm and draws enthusiastic audiences to the theatre.
Today the National Ballet of China has caught people's attention by its
brand-new productions such as "Raise the Red Lantern" and its rapid rise in fame
throughout the world. But few people know of their rough times when for years
the company was under-funded and out of date. The only reward then for the
dancers seemed to be the art itself.
Despite difficulties, the artists did not fail in devoting their bodies and
souls to their career.
Over the last 10 years since Zhao was appointed director in 1993, the company
has initiated a series of reforms, especially in administration.
Every year, the National Ballet of China auditions and recruits top dancers
from around the country. Most of them are graduates of the Beijing Dance Academy
with six to eight years of professional training already completed. The average
age of the dancers is a lithe and lively 22.
The ballerinas of the National Ballet of China are now internationally
acclaimed for their solid classical ballet training, all-round artistic
sensitivity and a delicate style.
While restaging classical works such as "Swan Lake," "Le Corsaire,"
"Giselle," "Don Quixote" and "Sylvia" every year, Zhao spends much effort in
producing new repertoire.
"The classical pieces lay a solid foundation in classical ballet for the
dancers and help them mature in their skill and artistic style, but we need new
works to broaden the repertoire as well as to guide Chinese audience to taste
something more than 'Swan Lake'," Zhao said.
Zhao attaches great importance to international communication, regularly
inviting world-famous masters to work with the troupe, training the dancers and
rehearsing new pieces, the pursuit of a unique Chinese identity still her goal.
Glaring lanterns
Zhao believes "Raise the Red Lantern," an adaptation by Zhang Yimou from his
1991 movie of the same title, is a milestone in the development of the company
and a real test of China's desire for cultural change.
This crossover of genres is part of her search for a Chinese identity more
versatile than the regimented heroics in the repertoires produced in the 1950s
and 1960s.
Since its Beijing premiere in May 2001, "Raise the Red Lantern" has raised
questions about what Chinese ballet is. "Yes, 'Raise the Red Lantern' is
controversial. It's an experiment and the experiment continues. Audiences have
to learn to broaden their horizons," said Zhao.
Choreographed by Germany-based Wang Xinpeng and Beijing-based Wang Yuanyuan,
the mix of dance styles, from Peking Opera, acrobatics to pointe work, may seem
too exotic for Eastern and Western palates.
As Zhao says, the experiment continues. The company has produced a Chinese
version of "The Nutcracker" which reworks a traditional Christmas ballet into a
Chinese plot that connects with a Chinese audience.
Her steps in exploring ballet with a Chinese identity will not stop. Chinese
identity is one of the main topics the attendants will discuss at a seminar
hosted by the National Ballet of China at the end of December. Meanwhile, a
Chinese work which she does not reveal is written into her plan for 2005.