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Hong Kong Dance CompanyJuly 2007 Hong Kong, Cultural Centre by Natasha Rogai |
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Zhang Zeduan’s Along the River During the Qingming Festival is one of the supreme masterpieces of Chinese art. Dating from the 12th century, this 5 metre long scroll painting gives a wonderfully detailed portrait of everyday life in the Song Dynasty capital city of Bianjing. Qingming Riverside is a full-length dance poem recreating scenes from this extraordinary work, which HK Dance Company has produced to coincide with the painting’s exhibition in Hong Kong. The idea is excellent, and the multitude of vignettes included in the painting lend themselves easily to choreographic interpretation. Several scenes succeeded in bringing the painting vividly to life, notably Boat Towers and Waveriders, which brought the first half to an exciting climax with some splendid dancing by the company’s men, and the charmingly melancholic duo Lonely People. Spring Carnival gave a real sense of a bustling street scene on a holiday, and watching the stilt-walkers and acrobats perform to a rapt crowd brought home how such entertainment has existed and thrilled audiences in China for thousands of years.
However, some scenes failed to hit the mark, and at times the production was too reminiscent of the variety shows staged for tourists in China’s historic cities. The linking device of the painter and the Nymph of the Bian River was not effective, and left two superb dancers, Liu Yinghong and Su Shu, under-used. The choreography was at its best when sticking to Chinese Dance or folk dance. The sequences seeking to reproduce authentic “historical dance” were less successful. In Canal Willows, the girls wearing shoes intended to imitate bound feet looked in imminent danger of falling over, and the choreography was rudimentary, consisting mainly of hips being wiggled and bottoms stuck out. No doubt such dancing was as popular with male patrons in the Northern Song as strip clubs are today, but while it may be authentic, it is not necessarily artistic.
 © Almond Chu
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