Iconic ballet set to return

With a four-decade-long career as a ballet dancer, Zou Gang, who danced with top ballet companies, including the Liaoning Ballet and the National Ballet of China, has a dream of adapting for ballet the well-known folk tale, The Legend of the White Snake.

The tale has been adapted many times in various forms.

Longing for human life, its protagonist, Bai Suzhen, who is a white snake turning into a beautiful woman, and her romance with her husband Xu Xian, a respected doctor, has been inspiration for generations of artists.

Now, as the head and artistic director of the Guangzhou Ballet, Zou is about to fulfill the dream.

On Aug 5 and 6, the company's original ballet production, The Legend of the White Snake, will be premiered in Beijing's Tianqiao Performing Arts Center.

"The development of the original ballet has always been a key mission for ballet companies in China," says Zou, who started receiving ballet training at the age of 11 in Beijing." The story of The Legend of the White Snake is very romantic and poetic, full of traditional Chinese aesthetics, which inspired me to think about turning it into a ballet production.

"I was also very careful about adapting it into a ballet work. For the Chinese audience, the story is well-known, which presents a challenge to us. Fortunately, we gathered a group of great artists to work with us on this new production."

Wang Ge, an award-winning choreographer, who rose to fame with his choreographic works, including The Railway to Tibet and Eternity in Flames, combined traditional folk and contemporary dance elements with ballet movements in The Legend of the White Snake.

Wang says that the ballet stays loyal to the original story and keeping classic scenes, such as Bai and Xu meeting on a boat on West Lake, Hangzhou's iconic scenic area in Zhejiang province, Xu giving his oil-paper umbrella to Bai when a heavy rain falls suddenly, and Bai turning into a white snake after drinking realgar wine.

He gave the character, Fahai, a twist. Fahai, a Buddhist monk in Jinshan Temple, who maintained that the coexistence of human and evil spirits was unallowable, opposes the marriage between Bai and Xu. In the original story, the monk suppresses Bai under Leifeng Pagoda at the bank of the West Lake. In the ballet, Wang added a sense of humor to the character.

"We tried to blur the hatred in the ballet caused by Fahai. Romance and love are highlighted," says Wang. "He (Fahai) sees the love between Bai and Xu. He has his own inner struggles since he has his faith to keep. But love conquers all."

Celebrated art director Tim Yip was invited to design the costumes. Yip, who is best known for his work in films and dance productions, won an Oscar for art direction for the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2001 and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts award for best costume design for the same film, becoming the first Chinese person to receive these accolades.

"I've done lots of dance projects, so I understand the relationship between costumes and dancers. When the dancers move, the costumes function differently compared to costumes worn by singers or movie actors," says Yip. "Wang showed me lots of materials and we both agree on making the costumes simple, light, silky and flowing. The production is a combination of Western ballet with Chinese folk tale. The costumes are also a mix of the West and the East."

The creative team members include composer Guo Haowei and stage designer Ren Dongsheng.

According to Zou, after the premiere in Beijing, The Legend of the White Snake will tour nationwide by visiting Chinese cities, including Shanghai; Guangzhou, Guangdong province; Chengdu, Sichuan province; and Zhengzhou, Henan province.

Zou notes that the Guangzhou Ballet will celebrate its 30th birthday this November. Besides The Legend of the White Snake, the company will also stage its original ballet production, titled Flag, in Beijing's Tianqiao Performing Arts Center on Aug 1 and 2.

Flag is based on the Guangzhou Uprising in 1927 in South China's Guangdong, where the Communists attempted to wrest control of the city from Kuomintang forces. The Guangzhou Uprising's central figure, Zhang Tailei (1898-1927) was portrayed in the ballet production.

"We created Flag as a gift to mark the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the ballet production was premiered on July 1, 2021," says Zou, adding that Flag was also choreographed by Wang, which was the first collaboration between Wang and the company.

"When Zhang Tailei died, he was 29 years old. When I read the script of Flag for the first time, I was 29 years old too," says ballet dancer Kou Zuquan of the Guangzhou Ballet, who plays the role of Zhang in Flag. "He was aspirational and young, and devoted his own life to revolution. Even for today's young people, this story is stimulating and inspirational."