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Let there be light

By Jules Quartly (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-28 09:32

Beijing Contemporary Dance Theater (BCDT) has cooked up something a little different for the 60th birthday party of New China. It's latest offering, Prism, is a triple bill from three rising foreign choreographers, who have produced original works for the occasion.

The troupe's artistic director and choreographer Wang Yuanyuan has, for a change, taken a back seat for the production that will premiere today at the People's Liberation Army Theater.

It is one of 12 shows selected by the Beijing municipal government to mark six decades of the People's Republic of China and the only one featuring international artists. These are Sweden's Pontus Lidberg, Louise Midjord from Denmark, and Nadine Thouin of Canada. They have been collaborating throughout the summer with BCDT, in Beijing.

It is also BCDT's first annual collaboration with international artists and fittingly for a contemporary dance group has an experimental feel. None of the pieces are thematically connected and this allowed the choreographers to create without constraint, Wang says.

Two dancers rehearsing Map of Me (and You), one act of dance show Prism choreographed by Denmark's Louise Midjord.

Two dancers rehearsing Map of Me (and You), one act of dance show Prism choreographed by Denmark's Louise Midjord. Jules Quartly

"Triple bills rarely work, they are very difficult to pull off, but this worked out great. I think it's a strength that they have different directions and it's better for the audience," she says.

"A prism suggests seeing things from different angles and we hope that in our creative processes we can help each other see from the other side."

The only Chinese element in the three disparate works is the appearance of a fan in Lidberg's piece, Luminous, which caused Wang to comment that: "He's going to be more Chinese than us."

Actually, this turned out not to be the case. At a recent preview, the choreographer's signature innovative classical European style was clearly evident.

Lidberg has a reputation for producing dance pieces for movies as well as the stage and his best-known work, Rain, won an award at the Dance Media Honors in Los Angeles.

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