by Sarah and Jack

Nine Songs is a dance based on the work of the 'first great poet in Chinese history', Qu Yuan (c. 340-278 B.C.). He was a member of the ruling house, a diplomat and a court minister. He had a brilliant career at court but jealous peers eventually brought about his banishment from court. In later years after the fall of the Chu capital, he drowned himself in despair in the river Mi-lo.

Since then, his death has been commemrated every year on the fifth day of the fifth moon (month), the day of the well-known Dragon Boat Festival. Chinese communities mark this day by throwing pyramid-shaped rice dumplings into the river and holding dragon-boat races.

Although Qu Yuan's misfortunes drove him to take his own life, fortunately for us, they also moved him to write some of the most beautiful poetry in the Chinese language.

This production of Nine Songs was intricately choreographed by Helen Lai, and was accompanied by chanting and percussion music played on traditional Chinese instruments. In addition, many of the ceramic instruments used had been especially designed by the composer Tan Dun for this production.

This mosaic of stunning modern dance, poetic Chinese theatre, a sophisticated fusion of design, costume, music and movement all combined to produce an intricate weave of different cultures. Here are some thoughts and reactions from Sarah who saw the performance recently:

Can you describe in a few sentences, the initial impact/impression you got?
The dance opens with an unearthly scream. It makes real impact. Beautiful, but mournful, hellish 'landscape'. Disturbing. Almost like a nightmare where the poeple are half human, half not: where you half understand what is going on, and then you don't.

Use of sand throughout dance - pouring from the sky - danced in, held in hands to pour from. Unfortunately we were sitting near the front so the dust rose around us. However, this 'discomfort' was positive in that it drew you closer into the dance. The performers' discomfort was yours too.

What did you think of the dancing?
Fantastic. Disjointed. Twitching. The dancers performed so well and with such skill that at times they were no longer people, but animals, insects, or just embodiments of the terrible feelings of the lead performers.

What feelings did the music evoke?
It was unearthly, a mixture of human voices, screams, combined with traditional chinese instruments and other indistinguishable sounds. Words half understandable, half lost. It was a while before I consciously realised that they were chanting very slowly in English, with a mixture of Chinese.

What impression did you leave the theatre with?

How did this performance interact with your Chineseness (or non-Chineseness)?
Having never been to contemporary dance, it was exciting and wonderful. On the Chinese/non-Chinese level, it made me feel proud that this performance was a combination of such opposite poles - traditional story with modern dance; both English and Chinese influences. It felt as though the best elements from both cultures had been distilled and combined together to create something that was perhaps better than a sum of its parts, and certainly more interesting for it.

 

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