Back in time
Giannandrea Poesio
Beijing Modern Dance Company Linbury Studio
When it comes to new dance, nothing sells as quickly as a multior intercultural performance. It matters little that the intercultural approach to art first came to light in the late Sixties; Western modern and postmodern dance-makers, dancepractitioners and dance-goers seem to have discovered this only recently and are having a whale of a time. Do not get me wrong; I like it too, for it is thanks to this interaction of different choreographic styles, genres and cultures, that ageing Western dance idioms have been totally rejuvenated. And, at the same time, the fusion between different vocabularies and syntaxes has broadened considerably the average notion of what dance is and can be, confronting viewers with choreography that, if taken on its own, might be impenetrable. That is why I went to see the Beijing Modern Dance Company with great curiosity and trepidation. Although intercultural processes in the performing arts have never been exclusive to the Western theatre, the intercultural stuff one tends to see this side of the world these days is far too frequently a Western product. The idea of a Chinese company dealing with cultural fusion therefore offered an opportunity not to be missed, and a rare chance to appreciate a non-Western application of intercultural beliefs. Alas, my expectations were not to be fulfilled and all the performance did was to leave me rather puzzled.
The term ‘modern dance’ is a notoriously fishy one, despite the historical baggage it comes with. In its strictest terms it indicates a historically definable dance movement and, more specifically, a number of techniques and styles that flourished in the Western world in the early 20th century and kept developing more or less till the late Seventies — some might claim that they are still developing. Yet, in the first dance, Oath — Midnight Rain, there were very few traces of any modern dance style, genre or technique. According to the note on the flimsy sheet we were given — this kind of performance surely requires a more thorough introductory note — Oath — Midnight Rain, by Gao Yanjinzi, portrays the inner quest for balance, showing how a flower, grass, a fish, a bird and an insect respond to the falling rain. Set to traditional music, the dance is mainly a series of individual numbers which remain more traditionally in line with the most typical and stereotypical traits of Chinese theatre arts.
Indeed, some ideas could be occasionally read as references to historically iconic modern dance works but even then none of them is used in a truly intercultural way, which means that they look like turgid citations forcibly interpolated within a far from appropriate text. More specifically, the first solo, that of the flower, brought back a number of far too familiar images, evoking every artist who, from Loie Fuller at the end of the 19th century, has resorted to playing with a layer of veils to create a ‘modern’ effect. Similarly the ‘fish’ character, clad in traditional costume and colours, was too reminiscent of one of Graham’s heroines, while the ambiguous and rather camp ‘insect’ at the end, sporting a black corset on his slender male body, was too much of a déjà vu. Pity, for the artists move in a truly exceptional and mes merising way, and all come across as charismatic interpreters, fully absorbed in the intricacies of their narratives.
Luckily, the interaction of two different cultural discourses was far more evident in Unfettered Journey by Hu Lei, the second and last item on the programme. This relies on the combination of new sounds, new dynamics and a clever adaptation of the Tai Qi vocabulary. The result is a fast-paced work that stands out for the breathtaking physical demands of the choreography. But after the first few minutes the dance fails to move forward or renew itself and starts dragging. As in the first piece, the artists give a splendid display of their unique skills, fascinating the audience with an engagingly contrasting game of slowand fast-paced movements. But once the viewer adjusts him/herself to that there is little left. The company, which has toured extensively and performed on international platforms such as the Biennale in Venice, was created in 1995. According to the brief note, its aim is to integrate ‘the traditional culture of China with influences from abroad’ to generate ‘a diverse repertoire of innovative modern dance works’. The inevitable question many of us asked on the way out was what kind of ‘influences’ from abroad had the choreographers taken into account, for they surely need to rethink their idea of ‘modern dance’.
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