Experimental Dance Theatre Reveries of the Red Chamber
Outcast from heaven, betrayed on Earth – brought to life in dance
Synopsis
Helen Lai x Yang Yuntao x Ho Ying-fung
Dream of the Red Chamber, also called The Story of the Stone, is a Chinese literary masterpiece written by Cao Xueqin. It tells the story of a stone that is outcast by the goddess Nüwa, who mends the heavens with stones. A Taoist priest and a Buddhist monk find the stone and bring it into the world, where it is reborn into a mortal boy called Jia Bao-yu. The story then revolves around two clans of the wealthy Jia family, who fall from financial grace, and a love triangle between Jia Bao-yu and his two female cousins.
The dance drama Reveries of the Red Chamber comprises three different reinterpretations of this epic book. Each one is individually helmed by dance doyenne Helen Lai, Hong Kong Dance Company artistic director, Yang Yuntao and theatre artist extraordinaire, Ho Ying-fung – all of whom felt inspired to bring the book to life from contemporary perspectives.
The three reinterpretations are set on an ingeniously designed stage where dance collides with literature and words take on a human form to portray a riches-to-rags story through poetic and emotive movements.
While the Dream Unfolds by Helen Lai
Director/Choreographer: Helen Lai
Chinese Opera Performance: Tang Yuen-ha
Music: Sascia Pellegrini
Twelve actors take on the roles of different women from the Grand View Garden. Will they be able to change these women’s destinies as prophesied in the fifth chapter of The Story of the Stone?
Blanc by Yang Yuntao
Director/Choreographer/Dance solo: Yang Yuntao
If there was one colour that represented your status in life, which colour would it be?
The Dream of the Red Chamber ends with the words: “A land desolate and bare”. This phrase thus declares that life, with its many ups and downs, and even the most colourful times, must ultimately come to an end.
It is only upon personal reflection that you can truly comprehend the saying “Doubtless at Forty” as actually meaning to begin to have doubts in life. When you learn to let go and forget, to keep an open heart and mind, then you can rediscover life with the knowledge that your future has yet to be written.
The Enigma of a Stone by Hoyingfung
Director/Scriptwriter: Hoyingfung
Actor: Ng Wai-shek
Pipa: Lam Tsan-tong
Composer: Kung Chi-shing
If the author Cao Xueqin believed that even stones from this world had feelings, would they still retain their souls if they were scorched by fire?
There are over 400 characters in The Dream of the Red Chamber but the author did not subject any of them to moral criticism. Instead he taught people like you and I to value every person that we meet.
For instance, take the characters Zhen Shiyin (hidden truth) and Jia Yucun (falsehoods exist). If they were to face the flood of information and money politics of the modern age, how would they go about comprehending “illusion” and “truth”?
Nowadays it seems as though our faces are covered with veils and we are surrounded by lies, and therefore we tend to forget about the wisdom of transforming ourselves.
Production & Artistic Team
Artistic Adviser：
Lau Siu-ming
Set Designer/Digital Images Designer：
Hoyingfun
Costume Designer：
Lin Ching-ju
Lighting Designer：
Bert Wong
Sound Designer：
Anthony Yeung
Associate & Deputy Set Designer：
Jan Wong