In November, a performance of a sensationally popular acrobatic version of Swan Lake in Shanghai was abruptly canceled. Refunds were issued to more than 3,000 ticket holders. And the show's two lead performers were summoned here to the nation's capital.
"We flew to Beijing and arrived on Saturday," said Wu Zhengdan, the female lead. "We knew we were going to perform for someone special. We just didn't know who it was."
That Sunday evening, Wu and her partner, Wei Baohua, performed at a banquet in the Great Hall of the People, one of China's landmark government buildings, for dignitaries who included US President George W. Bush and China's President Hu Jintao (
Demonstrating the unconventional blend of classical ballet and traditional Chinese acrobatics they perfected for the new Swan Lake, the delicate Wu, 24, did a pirouette, aloft on the shoulder and outstretched arm of the muscular Wei, 34, who is also her husband. She also rose up, stunningly, on pointe on Wei's head. There followed a gymnastic pas de deux.
Such bravura moves have delighted crowds in China over the past year, helping turn this radical reworking of Swan Lake by the Guangdong Military Acrobatic Troupe into a box office hit and transforming the couple into stars.
Now, the acrobatic Swan Lake featuring Wu and Wei is preparing for a world tour that will include Russia, Japan, Germany, and the US, where the couple already won high praise last October when they took part in the "Festival of China" at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
What audiences will see is not your usual Swan Lake. Although this 19th-century Russian ballet has been a fixture on the Chinese stage for decades, the current version contains several decidedly Chinese twists.
It opens with Prince Siegfried dreaming of a beautiful girl who has been transformed into a swan by an evil eagle, a vision that propels him into a quest that takes him from Europe through Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia before landing him in Beijing -- a journey that provides the acrobatic troupe with ample opportunity for displays of local color. There, in the Forbidden City, he meets the young Chinese swan-woman he will make his bride.
This West-meets-East take on Swan Lake is emblematic of the broad shift under way in China as state-sponsored cultural institutions move toward more market-oriented offerings.
Film producers, dancers, musicians -- even military performing groups -- that long depended on the government for financial support are now aggressively pursuing commercial opportunities. They are seeking private sponsors and hoping to profit by luring bigger audiences at home or exporting cultural extravaganzas to the rest of the world.
Filmmakers, often backed by state-owned production houses, are now trying to make Hollywood blockbusters. Even the monks of Shaolin Temple, famed for their martial arts skills, have gone commercial, forming their own for-profit company to produce kung fu movies and promote the Shaolin brand. The choreographer behind the new Swan Lake, Zhao Ming, says that China's state-run performing arts system is packed with hidden talent waiting to be discovered. "There are a lot of people with great technique here, but because they're in the military troupe, they have less chance to let people know," said Zhao, who also choreographs the Beijing Military Troupe.
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