Chinese dance troupe toasts joys of spring

Chinese dance troupe toasts joys of spring

By Mehru Jaffer

JAKARTA (JP): Nine nymphs from the Chinese province of
Heilongjiang celebrated the joys of springtime with much song and
dance last weekend here in Jakarta.

Performing for the International Festival 2000 at the Gedung
Kesenian that is fast emerging as an important cross cultural
venue for the appreciation of the performing arts, the Chinese
dancers frolicked for nearly two hours in gorgeous costumes and
exotic music brought all the way from their home in the
northernmost part of China. Bordering Russia, this province is a
melting pot of races including the Han, Manchu, Korean,
Mongolian, Hui, Daur, Oroqen, Heezhen, the Turkish speaking
Kirgiz and the Ewenki.

Here architecture and cobblestones left from Russian and
Japanese occupation are found aplenty along with the cranes,
storks, swans, geese and herons that have made China's biggest
bird sanctuary their home since time out of mind. This is the
ancient land of Manchuria where summers do not exist and winters
are long. The autumn here is a time of frosts, and there is much
flooding during the comparatively warmer days. Meanwhile, the
brief visit of springtime brings with it the danger of drought.

The provincial capital of Harbin has a six-month long winter
with lowest temperatures of minus 38 degrees. It is little wonder
then that the people of this treacherous land have devised such
heartwarming dances and music to keep themselves amused. Modern
times have seen the emergence of an ice festival that is now the
talk of the whole world where ice sculptures of pagodas, bridges,
lanterns, human figures and palaces give a fairyland look to the
snow-clad landscape.

The people of this province, who obviously learn to sing and
dance from a very young age, are definitely influenced in their
art by the denizens of the 210,000-hectare Zhalong Nature
Preserve which is situated a few hundred km away from Harbin. For
these dancers from the provincial art academy, who have filled
half of their repertoire with numbers celebrating Springtime, are
only between the ages of 14 and 16. They have also incorporated
in their dances the movements of birds, animals and fishes.

Looking like beautiful buds about to burst into blossom, the
dancers were a delight to watch as they kicked, hopped, swayed
and pouted to transport the audience into a magic world of
glittering tinsel, brocade, satin and silk.

The heroine in the Peking Opera was full of vanity and pride
as the angel-faced dancer with a body as supple as bamboo bark,
and dressed in the regal colors of gold and red, regaled the
audience with leaps and pirouettes galore.

A favorite was Song of the Boat when dancers wrapped in
sarongs the colors of the sea, pretended that they were the net
and sometimes the trawler.

The Turkish Muslim influence was evident in abundance in the
blood red harem pants and toupees worn in one number that was
danced to a sentimentally, soulful song sounding like the
serenade of a love-sick Romeo to his coquettish beloved.

Silk Flowers in Spring seemed to bring an entire garden onto
stage as the dancers made countless floral patterns with limbs as
flexible as latex and simple props like scarfs or sticks. It was
the shimmering performance of The World is full of Spring that
ended a very ebullient evening and brought everyone back into the
real world with a bang.