YANG LIPING’S RITE OF SPRING
A major international co-production with partners Sadler’s Wells London, Shanghai International Arts Festival, Stanford University and The Edinburgh International Festival
NORTH AMERICAN TOURING: January 2022
Yang Liping’s Rite of Spring is the second full-length contemporary dance piece by Yang Liping, China’s most iconic choreographer and dancer.
This exhilarating reinterpretation draws on Tibetan concepts of the cycles of life and rebirth and the indivisible unity of humankind and the natural world. Taking inspiration from Chinese and Tibetan symbols of nature, Yang Liping creates a preface and a coda, framing Stravinsky’s totemic work as the second of three tableaux — Incantation, Sacrifice and Renewal. Oscar-winning designer Tim Yip has created a visually ravishing work with startling colour and images of striking beauty for Yang Liping’s company of 15 dancers.
The Chosen takes the form of a Peacock, the sacred bird that is a metaphor for beauty, purity and life. It has also been a personal physical embodiment as a dancer for Yang throughout her career. In Yang Liping’s Rite of Spring the Peacock volunteers herself as the chosen one — sacrificing herself for the common good, in the knowledge that she will be reincarnated. The Sage is represented by another important symbol of Tibetan culture — the White Lion. His purpose is to accept the Peacock’s sacrifice, and with the human community prepare the ritual that will lead to her death and a “sky burial.”
“…a striking, visceral production that presents a complex consideration of fertility, sexuality and violence.” The Globe and Mail, Toronto
“A unique experience—the supple dancers are astonishing…” British Theatre Guide
TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyB-XAnXHyQ
Yang Liping is a Bai ethnic person from Dali, Yunnan Province. She is a National First-class dancer and the vice chairman of China Dancers Association.
A lover of dance from her early childhood, Yang never underwent formal dance training, but with her astonishing natural talent she became quite a unique and distinguished dancer in China. She won nationwide fame for her performance of her original dance piece Spirit of the Peacock in 1986, which is elegant and dreamlike.
As a household known name in China, Yang and her performance had won a large numbers awards: the gold award for 20th Century Chinese Classics of Dance; the highest honours at the Osaka International Exchange Centre, best dance poetry, best female lead, best choreography, best costume design and outstanding performance awards at the 4th China “Lotus Awards”. In 2011, Yang appeared in the Chinese Beauty in the China Image advertisement broadcast in Times Square, New York City. As a versatile talent, she also wrote, directed and performed in the film Sunbird, which won the Grand Jury’s award at the Montreal International Film Festival.
Main works: (As choreographer / performer) Spirit of the Peacock, Moonlight, Two Trees, Love of the Peacock; (As director, choreographer and lead dancer) Dynamic Yunnan, Tibetan Mystery, Echoes of Shangri-La, The Peacock, The Winter Peacock; (As director) Under Siege
