[Dance] Rebirth like Maria

In the days of repeated epidemics, fortunately, we still enjoy the works of the famous local choreographer Li Haining from time to time. Her "Nine Songs" was successfully performed in November last year. At that time, the epidemic had not hit again. Although the "Aria" originally scheduled to be performed in Tai Kwun in February this year failed, it was recorded as a creative record and played online. After the local performance venue reopened in May, the City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC) immediately scheduled the long-prepared, directed and choreographed "Maria Reborn" to be staged, becoming one of the blockbuster performances after the theater reopened. I also hope that the post-epidemic stage will be reborn like Maria.

Unusual Tango

The tango operetta "Maria Reborn" is co-produced by CCDC and Taiwan's Weiwuying National Art and Cultural Center. "de Buenos Aires" is also the choice of the two, and 2021 is the centennial of the birth of the father of the new Argentine tango, and he is even more famous.

"Liao Guomin and I worked together on the opera "Xiao Hong", and he asked me to direct and choreograph "The Forgotten Maria" (the title of the show in Taiwan)." Li Haining was interested in participating from the beginning because of Piazzolla's music , Tango music, just for her spleen and stomach, she once choreographed "Plaza X and Mutant Streets", using Bach's music in the first half and tango music in the second half, some of which are Piazzolla's pieces. She also loves tango dance, although she doesn't know much about it, "So I told them from the beginning that I would not perform a very authentic tango dance, but would still perform it in a modern dance style." She later suggested that they join forces with In cooperation with CCDC, the prototype of the production team was outlined.

good luck

In the era of the epidemic, performing arts are destined to have a lot of hardships. "Forgotten Maria" was originally planned to be performed in Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong, but for the time being, only Weiwuying was able to perform successfully in September last year. staged. "I really want to perform at Weiwu Camp!" she said, unable to hide her excitement. "Originally, I was leading the CCDC to perform, but due to the impact of the epidemic, it was difficult to make the trip."

However, Jian Wenbin, artistic director of Weiwuying, insisted on performing, and also thought of the plan of "one production, two executions". The Taiwan version uses local dancers, musicians, etc. According to Li Haining's rehearsal with CCDC, her friend Chen Qiu Yin, acting as the executive director and rehearsal director in Taiwan, communicated online between the two places, "Sometimes we send them information, sometimes we watch their rehearsal directly on Zoom, and I'll give it to Notes." This is the first time she has used this kind of In the form of line dance, he admitted that communication was very difficult, "Fortunately, I was the first to line dance for the CCDC dancers, and Chen Qiuyin also helped a lot."

The local performance venue has finally reopened, and the Hong Kong performance is scheduled to appear. The dancers are already ready to join the female soloist Lian Haoxin, the male soloist David Ke, and Farr, who was originally a musician. Nando. Ritz took on the role of storyteller. "He had an injury on his hand that would affect his performance, so we invited him to be the storyteller."

Farnando. Liz is from Argentina, and it is not difficult to read Spanish aloud, but Lian Haoxin and David Ke said that singing in Argentine Spanish was a big challenge. The poetic and even magical language made the lyrics and dialogue more difficult. I understand, even all the dancers have spoken in Spanish, but at the rehearsal I saw them dancing while talking, and they were very good at it.

woman who is not blessed by god

"María de Buenos Aires" has been performed in different versions in various places over the years, some are very tango, some are like Cabaret, some are like modern dance, and Li Haining's treatment is the latter. She put six female and six male dancers on the stage. "The six female dancers are like Maria's avatars, reflecting her at different stages and different temperaments." She felt that Maria was not so one-sided with passion, "A little girly when you're young, a little seductive when you're mature, sometimes passionate, sometimes sad."

In the story, Maria of Buenos Aires, as if she was not favored by God, suffered twists and turns. She was both a goddess and a slut. Encountering different things, having different men, and then dying, "she in the second half is actually a shadow, wandering in the city." She was even able to get pregnant, but instead of giving birth to a religious baby boy, It was a baby girl, "like she gave birth to herself." She described the opera as absurd and surreal.

In any case, the tango, Spanish, and Buenos Aires of "Maria Reborn" are foreign imaginations for us, even more so in the era of the epidemic when international exchanges are blocked. "I haven't been to Argentina, or even South America!" she laughed. "Maria Reborn" has no geographical references, but we can still imagine exotic flavors through various elements. There are also images of death and rebirth—such as the rebirth of Maria, which may be more meaningful in the post-pandemic period.

(Original published in the supplement of Hong Kong's "Sing Tao Daily" on May 5, 2022)