festinternational three legs”. This means the company of 80 dancers performs traditional 19th century European ballets like Swan Lake, Chinese works such as Raise the Red Lantern, and more modern works by choreographers such as William Forsythe. In Fei’s Peony Pavilion, however, all three legs are in motion at once. On the one hand, he has used choreography born out of western classical ballet, performed by a full corps de ballet against a score incorporating Debussy, Holst and Prokofiev. On the other, The Peony Pavilion is a work deeply entrenched in Chinese literary history. Meanwhile Fei himself, having trained in modern dance at the Beijing Dance Academy, is a choreographer keen to take ballet into the future. “Ballet is an artform with very strong standards and discipline and I hope that by using my own knowledge of other kinds of dance I can create new things for the ballet world,” he says. “I worked so hard to mix traditional Chinese movements and western ballet together, and I hope that through our work we can show The Peony Pavilion in a more contemporary way, and that audiences can find some modern themes and concepts in the ballet.” The story itself centres on Du Liniang, the teenage daughter of an important
official, who falls asleep by the eponymous pavilion and dreams of a young scholar, Liu Mengmei, whom she has never met. Upon waking, she attempts to find her dream lover, but when this proves impossible Du dies of a broken heart. Shakespeare would have left it there, but Tang Xianzu decided to give us a happy—if otherworldly—ending. The judge of the underworld steps in and decrees that Du and Liu should marry. Du plays a starring role in Liu’s dream, causing him to fall in love with her, and the young man’s quest to exhume his new love begins. It’s a lot more romantic than it sounds.
To shake things up a bit, Fei has added in two alter egos for Du, played by a flower goddess and a Kunqu opera singer. Lest there be any confusion over who is who, however, paramount importance was given to shaping each role into a recognisable character. “When I worked with the dancers, I told them how important it was to capture the characteristic of their roles,” says Fei, “and to make sure they were different from the other roles in the classical repertoire.” Working alongside Fei on the production are Academy Award-winning costume designer Emi Wada, whose vibrant yet delicate creations perfectly complement Michael Simon’s striking set design, and composer Guo Wenjing, whose original score—tinged with the aforementioned European references and played live by the National Ballet of China Symphony Orchestra—proved inspirational to Fei. “To tell the story of The Peony Pavilion using the language of ballet was a very good experience for me,” he says. “The melody was so beautiful, and I tried to translate that beauty into the ballet.” f Above NBC’s The Peony Pavillion Left Fei Bo
The Peony Pavillion @ Festival Theatre 13-15 Aug, 6:05pm, £12-£44
17 AUGUST 9.30PM £18 / £16 (CONCESSION) VENUE150 @ EICC, 150 MORRISON STREET, EH3 8EE
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Tickets: www.venue150.com / 0844 847 1639
edinburgh festival preview guide 2011 fest 81