- Title: CHINA: CHINESE DANCE SHOW CALLED "WILD ZEBRA" OPENS IN BEIJING
- Date: 30th July 2001
- Summary: (REUTERS- ACCESS ALL) VARIOUS, DANCERS PRACTISING ON STAGE IN REHEARSAL SLV ASSISTANT DIRECTOR INSTRUCTING DANCERS SLV DANCER MALE WILD ZEBRA STRETCHING IN REHEARSAL VARIOUS OF GEESE, LEOPARDS STRETCHING ON STAGE (2 SHOTS) SCU (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) ZHANG JIGANG, DIRECTOR AND CHOREOGRAPHER OF WILD ZEBRA, SAYING: "One of the problems in this piece is how to make the dancer
- Embargoed: 14th August 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: BEIJING, CHINA
- Country: China
- Topics: Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA2U7AMIUOGJTXP2AYEUI5XWZE5
- Story Text: A unique Chinese dance show on exotic animals in the wild has opened in Beijing to the delight of audiences. It's called "Wild Zebra".
Crouching antelopes and jumping zebras....an elite band of Shanghai dancers have leapt into the limelight with a unique show about animals in the wild.
With a wild zebra as the main star, this show is an exotic feast of colours for the eyes in dry northern Beijing.
It's a riveting story of love, greed and tragic death.
The plot centres on the courtship between two zebras, one wild male and one tame female.
Their love is thwarted by evil Mother Bear who is eager for the wild zebra's hide to complete a birthday cape which will bring her longevity.
Acclaimed choreographer and director Zhang Jigang was inspired to create the show after a dream he had during a long train journey through northern China.
"One of the problems in this piece is how to make the dancers look like animals.... it's one of the biggest problems. If the animals in this show were too exaggerated, I was afraid it would look like a children's theatre piece - and that's not my intention. I want this to be a show for everyone. But if they don't look enough like animals -- for example when you see the fox spirit and the wild zebra but you can't immediately recognise them -- then it's meaningless,"
Zhang Jigang said.
The rich costumes evoke the varied colours of animals in the wild. Dancer Lu Yan, who plays Mother Bear, has to bear a huge costume of fake fur and a heavy encrusted mantle.
"These costumes are pretty good. I think they're designed very carefully....they're not bad. This one suits me, but it's really hot, really very hot and extremely heavy," Lu said.
The energetic antelopes have a much lighter costume complete with horned hat.
The young band of male dance students who play the antelopes are already seasoned performers.
"I'm honoured to come to Beijing to perform this piece, Wild Zebra. Today is a rehearsal, but we've already performed the show seventeen times in Shanghai, so there's no difference between tonight and other nights," Zhu Jiquan said.
Director Zhang had to visit the Shanghai Wildlife Park to seek inspiration for choreographing the movements of zebras and other exotic animals little seen in China.
It took Zhang thirteen months to create a unique blend of ballet and modern dance moves to bring the animals to life on the stage.
The dancers are a mix of professionals from the Shanghai Oriental Youth Dancing Group and students from the Shanghai Dancing School.
Performers change costumes throughout the show to metamorphose into a whole range of animals from speedy leopards to scurrying mice and preening canaries.
Even though most had never seen a live zebra, many of the audience including retired worker Zhai Zhuangyang identified with the striped animals.
"I like horses because I was born in the year of the Horse. In China, there is an old saying that the spirits of the horse and the dragon are similar. A zebra is a sort of elegant, wild horse, and that's why I like it."
Forget the zoo -- twirling lines of black and white zebras will continue to capture the imagination of Beijing. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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