A Story of Survival
By admin on 2015-01-06

Dance production Da Bei Chuan, or Mianyang-Beichan, based on the Sichuan earth-quake and Qiang culture, will hit Beijing's Poly Theater Friday evening and Saturday as it begins a new China tour. The cast comprises of 60 dancers from the city of Mianyang, Sichuan Province and reflects the human compassion that followed the disastrous earthquake in 2008.

"As the only Qiang Autonomous Prefecture in China, Beichuan in western Sichuan Province was almost destroyed by the earthquake and the Qiang culture also encountered great devastation, the protection and saving of the Qiang culture has become an important mission for local people," Da Bei Chuan's writer Liao Xiong, told the Global Times.

"The performance showcases the spirit of Qiang culture, including music, drums, dance and clothing, however, with new artistic creation based on the primitive beauty," added director Xie Limin.

The 85-minute production tells several stories about people who were affected by the earthquake - an elderly woman trying to find her son and a pair of young lovers, saved by soldiers.

Da Bei Chuan also depicts the 3,000-year history of the Qiang people, presenting the minority's vitality through traditional dance and music.

"Qiang's dance is quite like Tibetan dance, jubilant and lively, distinctive movements of the shoulders and hips to the rhythm of Qiang music," explained Luo Bin, art director of Da Bei Chuan and director of the Dance Research Institute at Chinese Academy of Arts. "We use a lot of traditional instruments, such as the qiangdi, a local flute and kouxian, a kind of simple whistle used by Qiang women."

The qianghong, a long piece of silk or cloth used as a symbol of sacrifice or greeting gift is also an important symbolic element of the production.

Fusing tradition with modernity, Da Bei Chuan adopts several state-of-the-art approaches to present its message.

"The unique point of this repertoire is that it uses the structure of film montage to tell the story, with a combination of modern dance and traditional dance of the Qiang ethnic group," Luo said.

"The repertory is like film, it can touch the heart of the audience and when it was on stage in Chengdu, in Sichuan Province last year, lots of people were crying during the performance," Xie added.

Working as a director at Shanghai Film Group, Xie explained that he used film techniques to build the performer's on-stage characters.

"Feeling is quite important, atmosphere as well; the dancers were lacking a sense of character and scenario at first, I told them they had to express their spirit using body language," he said.

In order to find more inspiration for this performance, Luo and Xie made several trips to Beichuan, both returning with strong impressions.

"Human beings are too weak to face nature; however, the inner beauty of human beings, including love and diligence, can support us, which are the most touching points in this performance."

"We want to commemorate those who lost their lives and show our thanks for the help received from the whole country in the earthquake," Liao said, adding that the performances in Beijing are especially significant as they fall just before Qingming Festival, a time where Chinese people honor the dead.

Da Bei Chuan will play in several Chinese cities before heading overseas to Russia, Japan, South Korea and Australia.