Matthew Bourne's bare-chested male swans and satirical take on the modern British monarchy made his version of Swan Lake a sensation on its London premiere in 1995: a year which also marked the centennial of the standard Petipa-Ivanov version of the Tchaikovsky classic.
A decade later, Chinese artists have combined classical ballet and Chinese acrobatics to create another unique interpretation of the classic ballet. This time a European prince falls in love with a Chinese swan and performers use acrobatics to tell the story.
Premiering at the Shanghai Grand Theatre on March 25 and scheduled to run until April 9, the four-act show offers a fresh and original adaptation of this tragic tale to stir the emotions not only stylish and witty but also moving and provocative.
The show, directed by the choreographer Zhao Ming and performed by the Guangdong Acrobatics Troupe, offers almost every circus trick and even David Copperfield-style large scale illusions, as well as beautiful pas de deux.
Whether the show remains in the troupe's repertoire or not, it has shown the creators' courage to explore ways of further developing Chinese acrobatics. The decision to adapt such a popular classical Western ballet was a particularly bold move.
The ballet version of Swan Lake has always enjoyed huge box office success among audiences worldwide. But the new acrobatic version will really challenge the aesthetics of ballet fans who usually turn out for more traditional Russian productions and know every move expected of the white swan Odette and prince Siegfried.
Probably inspired by Bourne, whose version of the ballet also opens on a dream sequence, in the acrobatics production the prince dreams of a pretty Chinese girl who is turned into a swan by the evil black eagle.
In order to save the girl, the prince sets out on a global journey, taking in exotic scenes in north Africa and the Middle East before eventually arriving in China. A storyline which provides scope for more than a few breathtaking acrobatic stunts.
In the third and fourth acts, the prince forces his way into the den of the evil eagle and, despite being seduced by some female demons, finally overcomes evil and turns the white swan back into an enchanting girl.
Acrobatics such as pole balancing, jumping through fire hoops, rope walking, ball walking and jujitsu, are all seemlessly woven into the story.
And there is constant blurring of performance styles: "Swans" dance wearing roller-skates, when the prince takes a ship across the ocean sailors perform acrobatics high in the rigging, the Peking Opera style court guards in the Forbidden City walk on stilts, and the evil eagle and his black swans dance on high wires.
In the ballet version of Swan Lake, one of the most impressive pieces is the dance of the four little swans. The acrobatics version of the show does not disappoint. The four little swans become four little frogs who dance up-side-down to the familiar Tchaikovsky musical score.
Yet, the most impressive scenes are the two pas de deux between Wei Baohua's prince and Wu Zhengdan's white swan.
Inspiration
According to Ning Fugeng, director of the Guangdong Acrobatics Troupe, the pas de deux between Wei and Wu provided the core idea and inspiration for the acrobatic Swan Lake.
It was these two routines that won the Golden Clown Award at the 2002 Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival, and convinced Ning a full-length acrobatic Swan Lake could be developed.
Ning started to learn acrobatics from his father at the age of five and has devoted more than 50 years to the art. Often touring in the United States, Europe and Japan, he has been exposed to and learnt from advanced circus, magic and dance productions around the world.
Seeing such a variety of performance styles, Ning came up with the idea of fusing apparently disparate genres to produce a brand new show.
At a national circus competition in 2002, he met choreographer Zhao and his thoughts chimed in with the choreographer's own.
Zhao said: "Many acrobatics troupes have tried to improve their performance in terms of costumes, lighting, music and adding choreography, but few thought of making a full-length drama. So when Ning talked to me about Swan Lake, I realized it was a good idea. As a choreographer, the challenge of combining ballet and acrobatics was really tempting."
But work didn't start on the show until early 2004, when Sun Mingzhang, CEO of the Shanghai City Dance Company, came on board as the show's producer.
A lover of ballet as well as an astute businessman, Sun believes the show will be a hit with both domestic and overseas audiences.
Performers' challenge
In preparation for the show, performers faced long hours training in disciplines they had not previously experienced.
Apart from Wei and Wu who had previously worked on the "Acrobatics pas de deux" routine, none of the acrobats knew anything of ballet, and even just standing "on point" was a challenge.
While performers quickly got the hang of basic ballet moves standing with their arms folded over their tutus and their heads bowed, creating a pose suggesting the silhouette of a bird with folded wings, performing arabesque on roller-skates was another matter.
To prepare principle performers Wei and Wu watched videos of more than 20 different versions of Swan Lake.
Female lead Wu said: "A short program of a few minutes is very different from a two-hour ballet. When we play the pas de deux as a short program we concentrate on getting the acrobatics and the movement right. In the play, we are two characters; we are portraying a couple of lovers so we have to pay attention to the facial expression, the mood and the emotions."
Overall, the premiere was a success. The audience burst into spontaneous applause during the show and often gasped at the performers' stunts. When the four little frogs danced, they even clapped along with the rhythm.
"I enjoyed the exciting show. Wei and Wu are just wonderful. It's hard to tell whether they are ballet dancers or acrobats," said Alicia Adams, director of International Programs at the Kennedy Center.
(China Daily March 28, 2005)
