A poetic dance theatre with intense expressions, Princess Changping is a recent Hong Kong Dance Company production collaborated by director Tang Shu-wing and guest choreographer Xing Liang. Based on the story of the classic Cantonese opera with several movie and drama versions, the new work has adopted an innovative approach which deconstructs, reshapes and re-invents the traditional piece.
Golden Boy and Jade Girl - the angelic forms of Zhou Shixian and Princess Changping - appear as the coherent figures who structurally tie the entire work comprising the prologue and eight scenes. The Prologue shows the sensuous intertwining pair moving in mysterious dimness and quite music, from the far end to the centre stage, from heaven to earth. When Golden Boy falls, Jade Girl picks him up. At last, Jade Girl is left alone on the ground. The journey of life on earth begins. The story of Princess Changping, the eldest daughter of Ming Emperor Chongzhen, starts in Oath under the Twin Tree (Scene 1) with her choice of Zhou Shixian as the consort prince among the suitors.
Xing Liang's dance choreography fits in a unique way with the mood and style of Tang Shu Wing's theatre direction. The simple elegance of stage design and minimum use of props works well with different expressions of dance movements in different scenes. In scene one, the seven chairs for suitors in a horizontal row near the front end of the stage creates the visual interest of inner space where the suitors and Zhou Shixian demonstrate their talents. There are vivid contrasts between movements of frenzy, violence and despair in Suffering of the Princess (Scene 2) and the stillness and quiet sorrow in Begging for the Princess' Corpse (Scene 3). The solitary atmosphere of falling leaves echoes with the original Cantonese opera singing as well as the lonely movements of Changping in disguise as a nun in Glance at the Nunnery (Scene 4).
Tang Shu-wing has fused strong modern theatre elements with Xing Liang's dance movements by the co-existence of 'ancient' and 'modern' time and space in the piece. In Reunion (Scene 5), the reuniting duet of Shixian and Changping is presented as a dance rehearsal with the Priestess Qin commenting on the emotional expressions and movements of the two dancers. This 'dramatic' shift from the dazzling dance in the Glance at the Nunnery (Scene 4) - with several representations of Shixian pursuing and Changping avoiding - to the 'reality' of the dancers' rehearsal in the next scene creates a theatrical impact which deliberately breaks the dance structure. The effect of deconstruction also exists where, at certain points of the works, the dialogue of Tang Shu-wing and Xing Liang is inserted to reveal the 'reality' of their creative process.
Welcome the Princess (Scene 6) is the only scene with the most traditional expressions of Chinese dance, comprising classic elements from Cantonese opera. In others, Xing Liang focuses on modern dance abstractions of body structure and movements in tune with the music composed by Law Wing-fai and Kung Chi Shing. The story content is not told in a concrete and linear approach but rather, the spirit and motif is portrayed through original body languages and conceptual dance compositions. The challenge lies in the exploration of an 'out of the box' perspective to convey messages comprehensible to the audience.
Self discovery and experience in the journey of life, the main theme of the work, is conveyed in Presenting the Petition (Scene 7). 'Everyone of us is Golden Boy and Jade Girl in one… only knowing the desire to love…' The 78-year-old Lau Siu-ming, robed in white and with movements of sculptural grace, represents Golden Boy and Jade Girl in one. The 'petition' with the theme is a long monologue by Hung Tak Man, a female representation of Golden Boy and Jade Girl dressed in modern jacket and trousers. The 'petition' is presented to the 'ancient' and 'modern' Ching Emperors, sitting side by side on a high chair in the background. The co-existence of the 'past' and 'present' brings out the universal truth and desire of the individual's yearning for wholeness in all times, the search for the union of two souls - yin and yang - in one being.
The intense sadness reaches its climax in the final scene, Death of the Princess (Scene 8), with only the original Cantonese opera singing from the disc player placed in centre stage under the moon, a symbolic timepiece for life transformation of Changping and Shixian after formal marriage and suicide. The sensation of the classic lyrics creates an overwhelming effect on the entire stage where actions become unnecessary. Finally Golden Boy and Jade Girl, each on separate side of the stage, together walk back from the front to the far end…from earth back to heaven. Life persists, only in a different form in another time and space.
The liberating spirit of Tang Shu-wing and Xing Liang has preserved the essence of the traditional classic which is transformed into a modern dance theatre with extraordinary perspectives and visual poetry.
「看舞‧析舞‧論舞——舞蹈賞析及評論寫作計劃」由國際演藝評論家協會（香港分會）和香港舞蹈聯盟合辦及統籌。
本網站內一切內容之版權均屬國際演藝評論家協會（香港分會）及原作者所有，未經本會及/或原作者書面同意，不得轉載。