Young choreographer paints 'Silver Lining' in imaginative production
Young choreographer Chen Zihao is joining hands with rising dancers Zhu Fengwei, Li Yu and actress Tu Ling in his multimedia dance production "Silver Lining," which is being staged at Shanghai International Dance Center Theater this week.
The work has been performed at last year's Wuzhen Theater Festival and received positive feedback from audience and theater practitioners like veteran actor Huang Lei, who praised the work's rich imagination.
The Chinese title of the work is "29," as the three male dancers Chen, Zhu and Li are all around 29 years old.
"Twenty-nine represents age, experience. It also represents a kind of obstacle in life," said choreographer and director Chen Zihao.
"I'm a bit afraid of this number. With the increase of age, I'm often asked questions like how many more years can you dance for? Are you married? Have you bought a house yet?" Chen added.
"The creation process of this work is also my way of self-reconciliation. I need to overcome this obstacle," he said.
Chen also explained why he gave the English name "Silver Lining" to the work.
"What I want to present in this work is this feeling that rises within you when you see sunlight shine in through a narrow gap," he said. "It's the kind of silver line that you see around the clouds when the clouds block the sun, or a silver line of sunlight that emerges when the rain stops."
"Silver Lining" features rich imagination.
Each dancer is given a role in the work. Chen plays a monkey that doesn't want to become a grown-up; Zhu plays a cat that look like a tiger; Li plays a chicken who believes he can fly; and actress Tu plays a speechless fantasist.
White mattress is an important stage property through the dance. Chen said due to frequent home-moving experiences, he is emotionally attached to mattress.
"To me, mattress is like home, a drifting boat, and it could be a kind of restriction too."
KINOi YANG Qian Studio, a visual design studio commissioned for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, took charge of visual image creation and production of the dance.
Singer Zhao Li will also join the performance.
The creators organized a workshop over the weekend to invite audiences exprience dancing on a mattress.
Performance info
Dates: April 4-5, 7:30pm
Tickets: 80-580 yuan
Venue: Shanghai International Dance Center 上海国际舞蹈中心
Address: 1650 Hongqiao Rd 虹桥路1650号
