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Of Heaven and Earth
At The Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts,
777 Homer, to June 9
Tickets $25 to $75, call 604-280-4444
Like Lazarus risen from the dead, the former
Ford Centre is not only alive again but bursting with vitality.
Under its new name, The Centre in Vancouver for
Performing Arts, the unfairly maligned 1,800-seat Broadway box opens to reveal a
colourful spectacle that not only brings the boffo back to 777 Homer, but does
it with a pure Chinese panache.
Although the show is largely wordless, with only a
song or two in Mandarin, Of
Heaven and Earth
speaks proudly to the complex cultural mosaic that makes Vancouver great.
Of Heaven and Earth is largely a revue rooted in
Chinese folk dance, yet its backer Dr. Dennis Law isn't far off in labelling
this an "action musical." Across a large deck set atop The Centre's
broad stage, dozens of different styles of movement from all over China and
right 'round the world compete for our attention in a show that, while
accessible to anyone, doesn't simply feel like a forced dose of
multiculturalism.
Chinese artforms have been updated, plenty of
syncopated Canto-pop-style sounds pour forth from a powerful new sound system
and the special effects are both subtle and spectacular, neatly complementing
all the action.
The first 10 minutes are a little slow, as without any
more information than what's in the program we have to differentiate between
heaven on the platform and earth on the forestage.
On opening night, Chen Meng was the lovely goddess,
lamenting her loneliness until she lays eyes on an equally lonely cowherd. It's
no stretch to see why she's mooning over Chen Han, because this guy is handsome,
fit and filled with a stage presence projecting to the back row.
Their meeting is made all the more magical by art
director Tim Yip's
use of everything except big sets. William Kwok's videography fills the rear
wall with images of sun, moon and peaceful earth, Tommy Wong's lighting offers
an infinite palette from garishly strong colours to wonderfully washed tones and
Zhang Jianmin's choreography fills the stage with endless moments worth
watching.
Chinese audience members will recognize some of the
elements of folk dance and acrobatic displays, such as when a half-dozen women
each take a string and a double-cup device and blow us away with their ability
to fling these things through the air. But the evening is much more than
folk-art iconography, as facets of ancient Greek movement, Ukrainian-style
dance, classical ballet from Petipa to Diaghilev and right up to the modern
herky-jerk of Martha Graham.
The male corps de ballet is stronger than the women's,
but it could be because the men as cowherds in primal Tarzan rags dance to a
strong rhythm, while the women with floating ribbons rely more on the pretty
flutter of Chinese flute and violin. The first act ends with a huge battle, as
the Fire God (Zhang Jian) drags the goddess back to heaven -- a minor quibble
being a lack of light on her as she ascends.
Deadlines prevented me from seeing all of the second
act, but I did catch the female corps de ballet shimmering in heaven, and some
further evidence of a strong influence by the costumes and dancing of classic
Beijing Opera. All in all, Of Heaven and Earth is a fascinating introduction to
Chinese culture for folk like me and I would expect a satisfying update for old
China hands. - by Peter Birnie
Vancouver
Sun 30 May 2002
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