2024 Singapore Tour of JSCPA Dance Drama Commission "A Dream of Red Mansions"

SINGAPORE, Sept. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- From September 13th to 15th, 2024, the Jiangsu Centre for the Performing Arts (JSCPA) dance drama commission A Dream of Red Mansions will start an overseas tour in Singapore by making its debut at the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay from September 13th to 15th, 2024.

Produced by the JSCPA in cooperation with the Nanjing Chinese Orchestra and LI Xing Studio under the academic guidance of the Research Institute of A Dream of Red Mansions, Chinese National Academy of Arts with the Jiangsu Cultural Investment & Management Group Co., Ltd. as the planner, presented by Willow Arts in association with HOPPA Live, the JSCPA dance drama commission A Dream of Red Mansions received financial support for stage art creation from the Jiangsu Arts Foundation in 2022 and from the China National Arts Fund in 2023, received financial support for art communication from the Jiangsu Arts Fund in 2024, and won the 13th China Dance "Lotus Award" for Dance Drama in June 2023.

Centered around JIA Baoyu's romantic affairs with LIN Daiyu and XUE Baochai, the dance drama commission A Dream of Red Mansions is endowed with a unique modern aesthetic meaning by young, imaginative and creative guest artists on the basis of respecting the original. Visually, the aesthetic traits of ancient paintings are used for reference to present an elegant and quaint group image of dancers. Classical symbols with distinct Chinese characteristics are utilized in multiple locations to pay respects to the excellent traditional Chinese culture and, also, reinterpret the national literary classic from the perspective of the younger generation. Just a single moment, when Baoyu turns round to answer a curtain call, has elicited a screenful of comments on all the major video websites. It has happened numerous times that tickets are sold out upon issue and an extra performance is given. The 12 stunning belles, 12 high-back chairs, 12 small round stools, 12 colors and 12 bouquets of flowers… As the curtain rises and falls, the audience falls into a dream from JIA Baoyu's perspective, looking back at the 12 belles leading their lives in their exquisitely furnished boudoirs and enjoying the ultimate Oriental aesthetics established in A Dream of Red Mansions.

In terms of narrative, the dance drama commission A Dream of Red Mansions retains what is typical of a traditional Chinese novel, one with captions for each chapter, so that the twelve dances all have their titles, as follows, Entry, Illusory Land, Covetous Whispers, Imperial Visitation, Promenade, Burial of Flowers, Lantern Festival, Loss of Jade, Warding-off Evil, Family Reunion, Flower Burial, and Back to the Great Wilderness, which are independent of one another, but can be pieced together, too.

Directed by LI Xing and LI Chao, two young dance artists, the drama features a top Chinese creative team made up of playwrights CUI Lei and LI Yicheng, composer ZHAO Bo, set designer HU Yanjun, lighting/light media designer XIAO Lihe, costume designer LI Kun, style designer JIA Lei, multimedia designer YANG Yi, etc. The drama stars outstanding young Chinese artists including LI Xing, LI Yanchao, LI Qian, HU Jie, ZHANG Yashu, WANG Minrui, DOU Shuaifang, LUO Yuwen, GOU Chanchan, FENG Jingya, WANG Jinge, QIN Danni, WANG Yu, ZHOU Lijun, CHEN Xiaowan, JIANG Aidong, LUO Ying, XIANG Zhuonan, XU Yijie, YU Jianwei, SONG Yulong, CHANG Hongji, LIU Xiaohan, WANG Yuwei, HAN Yaqi, CHAI Yidan, Asiru, LI Tong and so on. The drama also stars the JSCPA Dance Ensemble. These young dancers, who are just in their prime, have made a miraculous copy of the kingdom of youth based in the "Grand View Garden", adding starry lustre to the national dance drama commission A Dream of Red Mansions.

Warming-up in the dream and ultralong response to a curtain call provide a glimpse of how the traditional Chinese aesthetic culture is presented strikingly in the drama - The costumes, designed with inspiration from the Full-length Picture of A Dream of Red Mansions drawn by SUN Wen in the Qing Dynasty, as well as Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera, characterized by the cloud shoulder, blend in with the flower language used to imply character personalities in the original, making the 12 stunning belles so distinctive that they look like flowers and willows swaying in the breeze. The stage scenery, designed skillfully according to the idea of mutualism of blankness and fullness, one common in Chinese ink-wash paintings, with China-featured classical symbols used in multiple locations, boasts an artful combination of the curtain, folding screen, tables, chairs and lights, which help to build a context of chapters in a freehand way, making it possible to create a space for imagination. The lighting, carried by layers of the curtain, is designed with some visual elements, such as flowing light and floating clouds, bead curtains and gold screens, tree shadows and mist, falling flowers and raindrops, which are used to create a dreamy image, seemingly false and real at the same time, for the Grand View Garden…

The dance drama commission A Dream of Red Mansions, produced with classical symbols from a modern aesthetic perspective by deconstructing, redintegrating and rearranging this must-read classic in the fertile soil of the excellent traditional Chinese culture, provides the audience with an in-depth analysis of the younger generation's interpretation of the traditional culture, thus stirring up a deeper exploration on the beauty of China and the beauty of classics in all ways. As a tentative sample of stage art and literary canons, the drama is designed to set a new precedent for Chinese dance creation and inject new vitality into the inheritance and promotion of the excellent traditional Chinese culture. Modern aesthetics and expression are adopted in the drama to deconstruct and integrate the classic in an attempt to make it into an excellent work that may help to highlight the Chinese aesthetic purport, spread the contemporary Chinese values and reflect the shared human pursuit of values.

At present, the JSCPA dance drama commission A Dream of Red Mansions, has been toured across China for more than 250 performances in Beijing, Nanjing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Xi'an, Chengdu, Suzhou, Hangzhou and other Chinese cities. To be specific, it has been put on about 100 times throughout China in 2024, and will start its overseas tour at the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay, Singapore from September 13th to 15th, 2024. Tickets for the performance are now available on both sistic.com and esplanade.com. Upon release, the news attracted much attention from the media and audience in the Lion City. The drama has become a top "blockbuster" on the art stage, with countless netizens and a wide audience spontaneously promoting and re-creating it, inducing exponential growth in reading quantity and thumbs-up. The resulting "fad for A Dream of Red Mansions" is now still in the ascendant, not only providing an inexhaustible source of innovation for promoting traditional Oriental aesthetics, but also arousing the overseas audience's interest in and passion for the Chinese culture, promoting the exchange and mutual learning between China and Singapore and even other countries in the world.

As the Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, the dance drama commission A Dream of Red Mansions is setting the trend for the Chinese style to create a festive atmosphere for the audience in the Lion City and even visitors from all over the world! When the dome light in the theatre is dimmed and the stage is lit up, the magnificent "Journey into Dream" drives life trivia away from the audience, who can thus visit the Grand View Garden with the 12 stunning belles. When put on in Singapore as a masterpiece of the times to promote the traditional Chinese cultural classic and show China's cultural confidence as great power this time, the dance drama commission A Dream of Red Mansions will unfold with a contemporary language used to tell the Chinese story vividly to the world, share the splendid, timeless artistic charm of the excellent traditional Chinese culture and introduce the excellent traditional Chinese culture to the world at a faster pace.