Raise Red Lantern Brings Chinese Ballet
By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter
The National Ballet of China is greeting local fans with movie director Zhang Yimou's ``Raise the Red Lantern'' Oct. 17-30. Based on the director's movie of the same title, it is the first time Korean audiences can see the work since its premiere in 2002.
Supported by the Chinese government and created by China's so-called ``three cultural geniuses'', director and producer Zhang, choreographer Wang Xinpeng and composer Chen Qigang, the work had its ups and downs in the process of coming to Seoul due to several requests from the Chinese government. For instance, the government required that the work be staged more than 10 times and venues should be up to standards in terms of cultural recognition for the quality of the work, making it a bit difficult for local theaters to agree and finally decide on the staging of the piece here.
Praised as ``a whirlwind of violent emotions'' by Britain's The Times and ``brilliantly staged'' by the Washington Post, ``Raise the Red Lantern'' will bring through this grand scale artwork of dance, music and stage settings all in a single performance.
The storyline is similar to the movie, in which a young woman is forced to marry a lord in 1920s China. The woman protests desperately, but this makes the lord want her more, leaving his two other mistresses mad with envy. Secretly in love with a Chinese opera performer, she is caught by the second mistress as she secretly meets her former love. The mistress tells the lord about it and the furious lord attacks her. Hurt and embarrassed, she tears down all the red lanterns decorating their house, which leads to her death sentence along with the couple. However, the couple and mistress finally forgive one another as they face their deaths, sharing the meaning of love, jealousy and forgiveness.
Zhang already proved his ability, bringing forth a grand scale of work depicting Eastern beauty at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games' opening and closing ceremonies where he was chief director. Famous for his portrayal of the dramatic and strong in his use of color, Zhang has managed to combine the sophistication of ballet with Chinese traditional elements in costumes, props, scenes and atmosphere. More than 65 dancers will appear on a stage designed with ancient Chinese buildings. The Orchestra of the National Ballet of China will perform, as well as 13 traditional instrument players, while French designer Jerome Kaplan has worked on the dancers' colorful costumes.
By presenting traditional opera and arranging traditional instruments for his play, Zhang will not only show Chinese culture, but also the beauty of Eastern art, colors and atmosphere within the work.
Zhang's movie ``Raise the Red Lantern'' was filmed in 1991 and starred one of China's favorite actresses, Gong Li. The director won the Silver Lion award at the Venice International Film Festival in 1991 with the film.
``Raise the Red Lantern'' will be on stage at several venues, including the Seongnam Arts Center, Goyang Aram Nuri Arts Complex and the National Theater of Korea Oct. 17-30. Tickets cost from 20,000 won to 100,000 won. For more information, call (031) 783-8000 or visit www.snart.or.kr.