Reimagining a legend

The Shanghai Grand Theatre's dance production Lady White Snake will make its US debut at the Summer for the City-Shanghai Day event at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York.

The dance theater's reinterpretation of the classic Chinese legend will present three shows at the iconic David H. Koch Theater on July 26 and 27.

Infused with the ingenuity of Eastern stage aesthetics, the performance will showcase the artistic vision and cultural vitality of China's contemporary performing arts to a global audience. Ticket sales are now open.

At the invitation of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Shanghai Day event will take place on July 26 and is cohosted by the Center for China Shanghai International Arts Festival and Lincoln Center.

With over 10 performances and activities, US audiences will get a glimpse into Chinese artists' original vitality and imagination. The event aims to promote international cooperation and people-to-people exchange through cultural interaction.

Lady White Snake is a groundbreaking reimagining of China's folk legend, The Tale of the White Snake. Moving beyond the traditional narrative, this production transforms a thousand-year-old story into a profound exploration of the human psyche, where dance becomes a language of deep psychological revelation.

Zhang Xiaoding, general manager of the Shanghai Grand Theatre, says that the company recreated the dance in 2021 as an innovation: "We want genres to converse and converge to retell the legend through the interplay of classical ballet and Chinese dance."

Tan Yuanyuan, a former principal ballerina of the San Francisco Ballet, director Zhou Ke, and Zhang merged their talents in a bold experimentation to retell the Chinese legend of White Snake.

Since its premiere at the Shanghai Grand Theatre in 2022, the dance has been performed at home and abroad. Earlier this year, they presented an updated edition of the production.

Young choreographer Wang Peixian introduced modern dance elements that transform the White Snake's inner world into a surreal, powerful tableaux in the new edition.

The story's earliest recorded version appeared during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Since then, the story has evolved to become a staple in Chinese folk opera, visual arts, and modern pop culture.

Playwright Zhou didn't like the traditional portrayal of the White Snake, who hides her true self for love and suffers from betrayal and persecution before being rescued by her grown son.

In a modern reinterpretation, Zhou reconstructed the story and created a dual space of reality versus the world of her mind. She also redefined the role of the Green Snake, the faithful maid to the White Snake in the traditional story. The Green Snake is performed as the White Snake's alter-ego in the new dance production.

In her interpretation, the Green Snake represents the animal part. "Like your inner self," Zhou says during a sharing session at Shanghai Library East earlier this year.

In the production, she presents Lady White Snake as an urban housewife troubled by mental illness who gains more humanity as the story passes through centuries and becomes morally disciplined. "I want her to answer to the call of her inner self, the Green Snake, and be brave and break boundaries," she says.

For the US debut, artistic director Tan will lead an international team of creators and performers. The music, stage design and costumes will be readjusted to the technical demands of the David H. Koch Theater.

A Chinese folk music concert featuring new compositions about the 12 Chinese zodiac signs will also be performed by the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra during the Shanghai Day event at Lincoln Center.

A musical carnival and "Shanghai City Fair" marketplace will merge Shanghai's intangible cultural heritage, games and animation art, cultural brands, and exclusive food and drinks to provide a full sensory dive into the charm of urban Chinese culture.