Ballet The Red Detachment of Women March 14, 2008

Time: 2008/3/14-2008/3/15
Venue: PKU Centennial Memorial Hall
Price: 20/40/60/80/100/120/150
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Tel: 86-10-64177845

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Performer: National Ballet of China
Accompaniment: Symphony Orchestra of National Ballet of China
Chorus: Chorus of China Opera and Dance Theatre
Conductor: Zhang Yi, Liu Ju

Ballet The Red Detachment of Women was premiered by National balletof China in Sept.26, 1964. It is the first and most successfulfull-length Chinese ballet, with both the theme and content reflectinga very unique Chinese style. The dancers even lived for months inmilitary camps to learn swordplay in order to portray the soldiersvividly on stage.

Since its birth, the ballet has been highly acclaimed for its movingand tragic plot, magnificent stage design, and graceful choreography.Its music, undoubtedly, also contributes a lot to the ballet's successand popularity.

It is said that The Red Detachment of Women was a prelude to theexertions of Chinese ballet artists trying to establish a Chineseidentity using an essentially foreign art form. The piece has beenhailed as a model of the successful combination of Western ballettechnique with Chinese folk dancing.

The Red Detachment of Women is one of the most powerful and movingballets from the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. It depicts awoman's journey into the People's Liberation Army. The story comes fromthe 1930s in China's southernmost Hainan Island. Wu Qionghua, thefemale lead, flees her home and joins the local Red Army troop,gradually becoming an outstanding soldier with the Red Detachment ofWomen. Instead of weak, fragile women dressed in fluttery tutus, womenwere depicted in military uniforms with rifles. Instead of frailmotions, women had strong arms and clenched fists. This play shook theentire foundation of bourgeois art.

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