She does not believe that it can be him until he sings a folk song that she taught him as a child and they have a joyous reunion. He has been wrongly exiled but disguises himself and makes a secret visit to his mother. Li Kui Visits His Mother (李逵探母) introduces the poor character of the blind mother and her son from the famous stories in The Water Margin. Not far behind in skill were the imperial troops who performed gravity-defying tumbles with multiple twisting flic-flacs and somersaults. He seemed to be made of wood and hinges, rock solid and without the hint of a wobble, as if he could do this all day. Zhang Zhifang (張志芳) in the title role gave a virtuoso performance, at one point, insouciantly standing in a high developpé that would be the envy of many a female ballet dancer whilst executing several retirés back into the extension. This monkey has caused chaos in heaven by stealing and eating all the peaches, causing the Green Dragon, White Tiger and Imperial Troops to be dispatched to catch and punish him. The opera Monkey King (known as Sun Wukong, 孫悟空) illustrates that monkeys in China were regarded in pretty much the same way as Kipling describes in The Jungle Book at the root of every problem. Hu Bin and Zhang Zhifang in Monkey King Photo Quan Van Truong Pan Yuejiao (潘月嬌) is every bit as physical as her male counterparts as both use strength and grace in utter control. This time, they duel with giant knives fringed with red tassels to symbolise their wounds. Liu Jinding (劉金定) duals with the evil warrior who, in spite of possessing supernatural powers, is defeated by good. The ritualised combat is illustrated by the symbolism of the costumes, the flags sprouting from the performers’ backs proving no impediment to dexterity as they wield giant lances.īamboo Forest Strategy introduces the familiar trope of the cross-dressing woman warrior and the stock character of the martial dan. ‘A Duel with Ma Chao’ sees the two generals from The Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三國演義) fighting until they become friends. Pan Yuejiao in Bamboo Forest Strategy Photo Quan Van Truong “Three minutes on stage equals ten years of study” is a maxim that many classical dancers would recognise.
Both have extraordinary range and, as we were reminded by the introduction, have pursued decades of study to perfect the art.
It was slightly surreal to see the dapper, neatly besuited Yu sing the highly stylised forms as if he had just burst into song in the middle of a business meeting. That was followed by solos in concert dress by senior company members Yu Kuizhi (于魁智) and Li Shengsu (李勝素). It does not need an expert knowledge of the instrument to appreciate the many technical challenges that were masterfully executed. The evening opened with jinghu player Wei Wei (魏蔚) playing In the Deep of the Night, providing an overture and an introduction to one of the musical forms that accompany the genre. Whatever, it was a superb taster for the art form. While the China National Peking Opera’s (中國國家京劇院) gala saw no such clash of cultures here, that might be an apt description of the evening or perhaps it was dim sum. I was once invited to a restaurant in Canada to enjoy a ‘Chinese smorgasbord’.
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