Yunnan in dance

A scene from A New Dynamic Yunnan Photo: Courtesy of the performance organizer

Chinese dance diva Yang Liping created a smash hit with her live dance and music show Dynamic Yunnan a decade ago, and now she's preparing to bring an updated version to Shanghai this August.

A New Dynamic Yunnan depicts the landscape of ethnic minorities living in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, and explores humanity's origins and relationship with culture, nature and the universe.

"The plot in the new version will not change too much, but more diverse means of expressions will be combined in each scene to vividly present classical rural songs and folk dances," said Gregory Wu, vice president of performance organizer ST Media.

According to Wu, Yang Liping will continue to serve as general choreographer-director in the new version, but will not play the lead. "The dance will be choreographed in a new manner to inject more dramatic tension to the body language," Wu said.

The new production will carry strong local flavors. Yang worked with her team to bring to stage more than 600 lights, 68 different types of drums and more than 600 sets of embroidered costumes and shoes collected from Yunnan locals to reproduce scenes of traditional folk events.

"In terms of the stage property, we have three fully loaded trucks carrying props from Yunnan, including many pieces of jewelry worn by people during religious rituals and festive gatherings," Wu told the Global Times.

Some new video works portraying diverse ethnic minority groups in Yunnan will also be shown.

Most of the performers in the original Dynamic Yunnan were inexperienced in dance, being drawn from ethnic groups living in remote villages in Yunnan. This time, professional dancers from well-known academies of art have been invited to perform. "Dancing requires remarkable skills and many years of practice. These professional dancers will make for a better effect on stage," Wu said.

According to Wu, the new cast lineup consists of nearly 200 performers, including leads Yang Wu and Xia Ga. The music director is famous Chinese music producer San Bao.

Yang spent more than a year traveling across Yunnan, which is home to 51 ethnic groups, to collect original folk dances and find promising artistic talent for Dynamic Yunnan. "Ten years of preparation requires much devoted effort. One could not have made such a great achievement without a real passion for art and for life. We have carried out many auditions and revisions before giving the final public performance to demonstrate the most indigenous and vivid ethnic folk art," Wu said.

This new production was premiered during the first Yunnan Kunming Yang Liping International Dance Festival at the end of last year. The Shanghai shows will be its third run.

Date: August 23, 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm

Venue: Shanghai Culture Square 上海文化广场

Address: 597 Fuxing Road Middle 复兴中路597号

Tickets: 80 yuan ($12.96) to 980 yuan

Call 5821-6618 for details