This is a work aiming to deconstruct the Chinese opera. It begins with
the dancers, like a group of young contemporary Chinese dressed in
metallic and fashionable costumes, coming onto a stage enwrapped by
the loud and traditional sound. They follow the structure of the opera,
and try to re-enact the storyline. The movement, the dynamic and the
substance, however, seem to be totally estranged…
Choreography
Willy Tsao, Li Han-zhong, Ma Bo
Lighting
Godzilla Tan
Costume
ZHAO Jia-pei
Program duration
80 mins
Premiere
2000.01
Choreographer Introduction
Willy TSAO
Willy TSAO is an influential figure in China’s contemporary dance development as a
choreographer, educator, curator, manager and director. As a contemporary dance
pioneer in China and Hong Kong, TSAO founded the first and only professional modern
dance company, City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC), in Hong Kong in 1979
and has been its artistic director for thirty years from 1989 to 2019; and in 2019, he
founded FLSH, a group to further promote the inter-exchange between Hong Kong
and mainland modern dance. In Beijing, TSAO co-founded a civilian-run professional
modern dance company, BeijingDance/LDTX in 2005, and had served as its artistic
director since founding. In 2017, TSAO initiated the “China Dance Stations”, an alliance
that connects modern dance organizations with a common aspiration towards the
prosperity of modern dance in China, constantly contributing to the effective sharing
of information, consolidating resources and creating better synergy for exchange
and collaboration.
LI Han-zhong
A native of Yunnan (China), Li Han-zhong graduated with a bachelor ‘s degree from the
Division of Chinese Ethnic Dance at the Beijing Dance Academy in 1991. Upon graduation,
he joined the Guangdong Modern Dance Company where he performed as a dancer, and
served as an artistic assistant and choreographer. He toured with the company to the United
States, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Korea, Singapore, and the Philippines. In
1996, he received the Asian Cultural Council Scholarship to study at the American Dance
Festival for three months.
MA Bo
Born in Mizhi, Shanxi Province, Ma joined Shanxi Provincial Song and Dance Theatre in 1985.
She received a bachelor’s degree from the Beijing Dance Academy in 1991, and soon after
joined the Academy as a faculty member. Ma has performed with Guangdong Modern Dance
Company and went on to perform with Beijing Modern Dance Company in 1999. She has
collaborated with choreographer Li Han-zhong on previous modern dance works. Her works
includes, Variation of Red, Helpless, Gone with it in Multi-Color, Garden of Memory, and The
Cold Dagger and others.