Cultural events during the Year of China in Russia

“Cultural events during the 2007 Year of China in Russia will show our Russian friends an ancient, modern and diverse China,” said Chinese Vice-Minister of Culture Meng Xiaosi...

«Cultural events during the 2007 Year of China in Russia will show our Russian friends an ancient, modern and diverse China,» said Chinese Vice-Minister of Culture Meng Xiaosi. As head of the cultural group on the organizing committee for the countries’ reciprocal national years, she announced that outstanding Chinese cultural and artistic figures would visit Russia in 2007 and a series of art exhibitions would be held. The Chinese cultural festival would match the scale of Russia’s festival in China. «Our aim is to give ordinary Russians a broader, deeper understanding of China’s ancient history and its rapidly changing present,» she stressed.

China has many lakes, but only one Swan Lake.

There are many productions of Tchaikovsky’s ballet, but only one circus version!

China’s cultural program in Russia opened with one of the most original and unpredictable versions of «Swan Lake», once again first seen by Muscovites. For four evenings, April 5–8, the Chinese ballet-and-circus show to Tchaikovsky’s music played at the State Kremlin Palace. In theatrical terms, these performances could be called an encore. China’s «Swan Lake» had played here a year earlier, creating a sensation, and now returned triumphantly to the Kremlin stage at Russian audiences’ request.

The first performances of the Shanghai acrobatic ballet, in March last year, were billed as a world premiere. The creators insisted on beginning their international tour in Russia, Tchaikovsky’s homeland and a country renowned for ballet and circus. Audiences were promised the «most beautiful circus and most dangerous ballet» in one large-scale Chinese production. The enticing advertising worked: the 6,000-seat Kremlin Palace was packed. Yet the Chinese performance surpassed every expectation.

The idea arose within a Guangdong acrobatic troupe led by director Ning Genfu and choreographer Zhao Ming after presenting «Oriental Swan: Acrobatic Duo» at the 26th international acrobatic competition in Monte Carlo in 2002. The Chinese artists won its top prize, the «Golden Clown». Their Moscow ballet performances sold out, after which the troupe continued its world tour in St. Petersburg, Japan, Malaysia, India, Australia and several countries in the Americas.

In the Chinese «Swan Lake», ballerinas walk en pointe on a tightrope and strike incredible poses on a partner’s outstretched palm. Acrobats dressed as green frogs perform the famous «Dance of the Little Swans» on their hands, blurring the boundary between classical ballet and virtuoso acrobatics. The 32 fouettés are performed by men rather than women, standing inside giant wheels that simultaneously rotate across the stage!

«It is a truly grand production with about 80 Chinese artists. This year, 24,000 people will see the show at the Kremlin,» said Ildar Bakeyev, organizer of the Shanghai troupe’s Russian tour.

«The hardest trick is balancing on my partner’s head. It is very difficult to control myself then, even psychologically,» said lead performer Wu Zhengdan. She explained that bruises from her pointe shoes on her partner’s body hardly ever heal, and a doctor always accompanies their tours. She weighs 44 kg and is 168 cm tall, gaining another 15 cm en pointe.

«Swan Lake is a classical ballet everyone knows. Staging it is a challenge for us. While preparing it, we wondered how to surpass Russian ballerinas, so our act contains many very difficult acrobatic elements,» she admitted, adding that she and her partner «dance» without safety equipment.

«In traditional Swan Lake, the audience watches the ballerina’s feet. We decided to change that and perform Odette’s arabesque on Prince Siegfried’s hand,» Wu Zhengdan said.

The performers themselves helped the choreographer develop the difficult acrobatic acts.

«We mastered some techniques even before preparing this ballet,» said Wei Baohua, who plays Siegfried.

«After all, we are professional acrobats, not ballet dancers, so we wanted to show what we do best,» added Wu Zhengdan, three-time Chinese acrobatics champion.

According to Bakeyev, the performers dream of a major Russian tour, but cannot visit other Russian cities this year because their schedule is booked far ahead.

In 2006, the Shanghai troupe received the commemorative «Diaghilev House» gold medal established by UNESCO’s cultural foundation and a medal from the Union of Circus Workers of Russia for its «Swan Lake».

The organizers said the troupe was delighted to return to Russia. All the artists remembered the warm reception in Moscow and St. Petersburg on their previous visit, when actors and acrobats had been very anxious about how their version of the great Russian composer’s ballet would be received in his homeland. Following many enthusiastic reviews, the Chinese virtuosos once again delighted Russian audiences with unsurpassed skill and vibrant, original performances.

(© «PereVesti». http://www.perevestinews.ru/articles/39.htm)