Chinese acrobatics troupe turns ‘Swan Lake’ on its head – Sheila Melvin

From the International Herald Tribune:

Swan Lake” is one of the best-loved of all ballets, especially in China, where it was the first full-length ballet performed by Chinese dancers after the founding of the People’s Republic. The Tchaikovsky classic is a standard in the Central Ballet of China’s repertory and is also frequently performed by cash-strapped ballet companies from the former Soviet Union.

Acrobatics, on the other hand, is the ugly duckling of China’s performing arts, ignored and disdained by city dwellers who consider it both pass√© and d√©class√©. Attendance at acrobatics performances has been declining for years, and nowadays its audiences are almost exclusively foreign tourists and overseas Chinese.

So producing an acrobatic version of “Swan Lake” would seem to be a risky undertaking, destined to be criticized by high culture purists and ignored by audiences who like their “Swan Lake” just fine without the trapeze.

CDT EBOOKS

Subscribe to CDT

SUPPORT CDT

Browsers Unbounded by Lantern

Now, you can combat internet censorship in a new way: by toggling the switch below while browsing China Digital Times, you can provide a secure "bridge" for people who want to freely access information. This open-source project is powered by Lantern, know more about this project.

Google Ads 1

Giving Assistant

Google Ads 2

Anti-censorship Tools

Life Without Walls

Click on the image to download Firefly for circumvention

Open popup
X

Welcome back!

CDT is a non-profit media site, and we need your support. Your contribution will help us provide more translations, breaking news, and other content you love.