A Poetic Dance Drama, China East Dance and Music Ensemble: A Review

Posted on June 27, 2024  •  3 minutes  • 527 words  • Other languages:  Türkçe

Note: This text is translated from its Turkish version via ChatGPT.

Disclaimer: This article was written by an art enthusiast, not an art critic.

Introduction

This article is prepared to express the satisfaction felt towards the poetic dance drama “Journey of a Legendary Landscape Painting” performed and presented by the China East Dance and Music Ensemble at Istanbul Atatürk Cultural Center on June 22-25, 2024.

The Work

I directly quote the text shared in the brochures promoting the show:

The story is set at the moment when the “Mountains and Rivers Painting” will be exhibited in real life and a thousand years ago when the young painter Ximeng is about to complete the painting. Due to his deep interest in the “Depiction of Mountains and Rivers Painting with Dance,” the Scroll Keeper enters Ximeng’s inner world and experiences the challenging yet precious time Ximeng underwent in creating this valuable painting. He forms a spiritual bond with this ‘young genius’ known from a few records. He discovers the coincidental and necessary reasons for the ‘millennial uniqueness’ of the painting. He understands the sensory connection between ancient artifacts and modern people.

On stage, a multi-layered rich painting world is depicted. A bright moon illuminates a thousand years. Under the moonlight, the Scroll Keeper makes eye contact with Ximeng. Cultural heritage experts and ancient craftsmen, meticulously working at the Forbidden City Museum, together create a human painting blending emotions and landscapes.

If the arrival of the painting to the present day is a coincidence of history, the colors that have not faded for a thousand years are an inevitable result of the countless traditional crafts of the Chinese Nation.

“Nameless and unsigned, this single scroll; blue-green endless mountains and rivers for a thousand years” with this drama, we pay our respects to China’s distinguished traditional culture, its creators, and its preservers.

[Parts of the Work:] Unrolling the Scroll. Observing the Seal. Wrapping the Silk. Seeking the Stone. Preparing the Brush. Grinding the Ink. Entering the Painting.

Thoughts on the Work

I must say that I found the script of the work very meaningful and emotional, and its music as impressive as Hans Zimmer’s works. The moments when the characters remained motionless at the beginnings and ends of scene transitions and the use of interlocking five-layered rings on the stage floor of the AKM Opera House provided unforgettable moments for the audience. These moments reminded me of the unforgettable music and the images that make the viewer question life in a short time in the opening credits of the Westworld series.

I believe that the technical stage capabilities of the AKM Opera House were used very well in this performance, especially in the scenes with three-dimensional effects such as rain and snow.

I can say that the scene where the scroll is visited by visitors in a museum towards the end of the work was the most meaningful part for me. Costumes and music will already be appreciated by those interested in Chinese culture. Additionally, I think these two points were very well reflected.

Thanks

I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to the preparation, presentation, and organization of this work.