The Company amazed us with their profuse energy and skill. Courtesy of Grand Performances

Hail to the Beijing Modern Dance Company

By Nayla Huq

The effluent Grand Performances Watercourt stage fountains could not extinguish the Beijing Modern Dance Company's blaze Friday night, August 29th. In their American debut, each of the Company's exhibitions displayed their fiery spirit with true talent and strength. Though the heat left them sweltering, the audience was in awe.

Clothed in futuristic attire, thirteen male and female dancers, introduced themselves in Chinese with "I come from …" while gesticulating.

The bound sacrificial maiden-the non-conformist. Courtesy of Grand Performances

"I Come From" is rooted in ancient Chinese literature where some Chinese youth embark upon an odyssey searching for Kunlun, the passageway to heaven where the Gods met their ancestors at the beginning of time.

"I Come From" was followed by the three part "Prayer in the Dusk," which illustrated that "every man has a burden," and focused on the inner self of a struggling human being.

Performed to the Muslim call to prayer, Part I was a graceful and acrobatic solo where the male dancer confronts his demons, as he writhes in his self-exorcism.

A couple rendering the dualism of love in a dance, set to traditional Indian music, made up Part II. Here, love changes from being tender, sensual and egalitarian, to domineering. The female dominates. She seems to love him, but she clearly wears the pants. He takes the subordinate position, standing on his knees as if begging for kindness, while she stands and looks down on him. The music strongly suggested tender, sensual love throughout, though the dance depicts more varying emotions, solidifying the inconsistency of love.

The piece for Part III of "Prayer in the Dusk," a trio performed to a Greek song where the man struggles to choose between two women.

Succeeding "Prayer in the Dusk" was "Blown," a chaotic, comical rendition of American corporate office culture scored to the Chinese Pipa musical piece, "Ambush on All Sides." Setting traditional folk music to a modern setting establishes that office culture is just a modernized setting where workers will play while the boss is away.

The Company performs "One Table, Two Chairs," though not at Grand Performances. Courtesy of ccdc.com

The Company closed their performance with the 40-minute "All River Red," a dance manifesting the demise of the non-conformist. The music chosen for this striking piece was Igor Stravinsky's famous 1913 classical piece, "The Rite of Spring,"

Because of the music's pagan theme, in which a maiden is sacrificed to propitiate the gods, my interpretation is that these power-crazed deities demanded the female's elimination because her resistance offended them. The conformists bound and blind-folded her. Initially she didn't resist, as if to say: "Do away with me. What do I care? I don't want to have to go on living with you drones anyway!" Then she began to feel a longing to be part of the group again. She tried to wriggle herself free from her binds, but was never released.

After her removal, everything temporarily returns to normal, but oppression took the reigns, prematurely stamping out future rebellions.

Did you know?
	The Beijing Modern Company was founded in 1995, and just a year later won the Wen Hua Award, China's national dance prize. Upon the appointment of Willy Tsao as Artistic Director in 1999, the Company brought home the Bielorussian International Choreography Grand Prize. The BMDC is revered for starting the annual Modern Dance Festival, for incorporating traditions of the many ethnic groups in China, and for their innovativeness.

"All River Red" models the struggle modern dance has faced trying to develop in China. Though the dance shows a continuing uphill battle, the BMDC is clearly making waves in the West. Incorporating modern dance into a culture rooted in ancient traditions would inevitably be-at the very least-a struggle, if not a battle. Nonetheless, I hope the BMDC will hold fast to their dream and keep pushing ahead. I eagerly await their return.

Beijing Modern Dance Company's website is bmdc.com.cn. Please note, it's all in Mandarin.

September 12, 2003