A lingering Peking Opera aria sung by an off-stage voice introduces a young lady dressed in pure white who dances gracefully onto the stage.

This is the opening scene from the new Chinese ballet, "Raise the Red Lantern."

The new show, presented this week by the National Ballet of China at the Tianqiao Theatre in Beijing, has been the focus of intense public attention for the past six months.

Its appeal comes from Zhang Yimou who directs the production. When he started the job, the famous movie helmsman admitted he knew very little about ballet, but he seems to have learned rapidly.

Other famous members of the production crew - most notably, composer Chen Qigang, choreographer Wang Xinpeng and set designer Zeng Li - have also captured their share of the media's attention.

The result of all the hoopla is a five-scene ballet that tells a simple, tragic love story based on, but different from, Zhang Yimou's film of the same name.

Blaze new trails

The story met with tremendous international success when Zhang's film was released in the 1990s, but some have questioned whether the tale makes a good ballet.

Regardless of whether it is good or bad, critics and audiences both seem to agree it benefits from Zhang's unique vision.

"A ballet director would never have made a ballet like this one. He introduces a number of new concepts," Du Xiaoqing, a critic with Dance magazine, said in his review.

Notable in Zhang's production is the introduction of elements from other theatre genres. Most obvious among these is the Peking Opera.

In what some consider to be a bold move, Zhang has a pair of Peking Opera performers dressed in opera costumes actually perform short opera episodes on the stage.

In one scene, during which the third of a rich man's concubines dreams of her original lover before she is forced to get into the bridal sedan chair, the ballerina playing the concubine dances with a martial arts performer from the opera.

"It is really a pas de deux we've never seen before," Du said.

Zhang uses Peking Opera to construct drama within drama. "Changbanpo," a popular Peking Opera piece, features heavily in the lives of the characters.

Throughout the ballet, Zhang displays skills in handling montage with ingenuity, something he learned in film directing. Protagonists in two intertwining plots perform on the stage at the same time with their separate stories distinguished by a divided set.

Zhang even manages to incorporate bits of traditional shadow play into the ballet. In a scene where one bride struggles against her lord in the nuptial chamber, shadow puppets dance behind a large wall made of 10 engraved screens.

The production is characterized throughout by forceful audio-visual effects.

In the bridal chamber, after the shadow puppets finish their dance, the bride breaks through one of the screens and the lord chases her. In the course of the pursuit, they break most of the screens.

The sharp sounds of destruction and the sight of large holes in the ornate screens are shocking.

A similar spectacle occurs when the second concubine fails to win the lord's favour and is so disappointed and grieved that she knocks over a series of lanterns and tears them to pieces.The broken lanterns lie sullenly on the stage, a symbol for her broken heart.

The last scene, which we won't reveal entirely, also centers around a shockingly spectacular image, rife with violence and tragedy.

Behind all these scenes lies the main set - a sorrowful and suppressive feudal mansion, made all the more sullen and textured by creative use of colour and lighting.

Not all the nouveau elements sat well with people in the audience. Most considered Zhang's attempt to use mah-jong in the ballet somewhat of a stretch.

"The nine tables used during the mah-jong scene and the number of people dancing around them turned the stage into a noisy mess," said Gao Ning, who got a ticket to the performance through a friend.

Tian Ren, who works for a performance agency, agreed: "The scene is out of tune with the whole story. It is very funny that the lord shouts 'playing mah-jong' on the ballet stage, but the story is not about comedy."

Choreography

A number of dance experts also raised concerns about "Raise the Red Lantern."

"For a ballet, the dancing seems weak," Feng Shuangbai, the director of the Dance Research Institute under the Arts Academy of China, said after seeing the show.

"The dances are scrappy and few of them leave the audience with a strong impression. In a certain sense, the dancing takes a back seat to other elements, which is not appropriate for a ballet," he said.

Many critics have complained that the new ballet fails in terms of characterization. The complaint centres around a perceived lack of emotional conflicts between different characters. This element, too, seems to have been overshadowed by the spectacular nature of the performance.

"After one night of excitement, I felt mentally empty. None of the characters were vivid and clear-cut enough to stick in my memory," Du said.

Yang Shaofu, a critic and a playwright with the National Ballet of China concurred: "There are problems in the structure. Zhang did not give the choreographer enough space to create while placing too much emphasis on unimportant elements, like the playing of mah-jong."

In the glossy playbill, choreographer Wang Xinpeng's name appears third, following Zhang Yimou and Chen Qigang, the composer. This seems like an appropriate indicator of where priorities were in the creation of "Lantern."

That is not to say, however, that Wang didn't manage to create a few graceful dances.

In the opening scene, 18 maids, each carrying a red lantern, dance in beautifully novel formations. Following them is the third concubine's lithe solo dance in her white dress.

The music for this opening scene is melancholy and smooth.

As the two older wives receive the new bride, each is followed by a group of maids. One group of maids dance with folding fans in hand while the others dance with silk handkerchiefs.

Wang uses many elements of Chinese traditional dance in this scene to reflect the idea that it is a Chinese wedding. Chen also blends notes from traditional wedding music into his composition.

Unfortunately, the wonderful dance pieces are few and short.

Xing Dehui, a dance director, said the lantern-tearing dance in which the second wife portrays her jealousy and distress is disappointing. She pantomimes more and dances less, he claimed.

Critics were more divided over the music. Some thought it was scrappy like the dance while others claimed it was delightful.

Most impressive for audiences was the off-stage Peking Opera in the opening and closing scenes.

What left to do

Despite the criticisms, most critics acknowledge that the new production is a bold attempt within the context of Chinese ballet. The problems, most critics agreed, were a result of too much haste in the creative process.

Although every member of the creating team is recognized as artistic genius, the communication among them was limited and rushed.

Much of the collaboration occurred internationally, with members of the crew working separately in China, France and Germany during the year of preparations.

Chen and Wang both said the "Lantern" could benefit from some additional tinkering.

(China Daily 05/04/2001)