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Film, opera, and ballet
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DIRECTOR Zhang Yimou's acclaimed ballet, Raise the Red Lantern, which is the talk of Beijing nowadays, has taken the art world by storm -- so much so, that already almost all the tickets have sold out in advance.
Few Chinese ballets have aroused such buzz, as even Zhang himself said he used to "fall asleep" while watching ballet.
But apart from Zhang's star draw, Raise the Red Lantern offers new approaches to traditional ballet, especially those adapted from films and operas.
Zhang, a long-established film director, has also had plenty of experience in the performing arts. His mammoth production of the opera Turandot in 1999, in particular, won wide acclaim.
Audiences may be surprised by the first few minutes of Raise the Red Lantern, as they will not be treated to the graceful movements one usually associates with ballet, but the authentic singing, gesticulating, elocution and acrobatics of Beijing opera. Some insiders said Zhang has successfully fused the best elements of traditional Beijing Opera with modern ballet.
Zhang takes full advantage of sound, music, light and settings--the necessities of a film--- to pull in the audience.
In one act, he puts a huge paper curtain before the dancers, showing only their shadows to the audience.
In another act, he uses strong light on the dancers' faces to reflect their emotions.
At the same time, the strong cast from the China Central Ballet, the choreography by Chinese-German Wang Xinpeng and music by Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra are crucial to the ballet's roaring success.(Windy Shao)
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