Dance

Jing Ping Mei is the most notorious novel in Chinese literature. Also known as The Golden Lotus, it was banned for centuries because of explicit sexual content. Nonetheless, its reputation and literary merit ensured that it was valued by generations of literati, eventually to become established in the Chinese literary canon. Internationally acclaimed ballet choreographer of The Peony Pavilion and Raise the Red Lantern, Wang Yuanyuan takes on this tale of debauchery and excess, and liberates its three female protagonists through dance: Pan‘s quest for sexual empowerment, Li‘s longing for everlasting love and Pang‘s struggle for social independence. The Beijing Dance Theater is known as the first Chinese company to fuse ballet and modern dance. So expectation is high as Wang and her sought-after creative team, headed by Oscar-winning designer Tim Yip and Music Director of the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony Chen Qigang, lead China‘s most daring dancers in recreating the house of merchant Ximen Qing and its web of household politics spun by wives, concubines and servants.