印象・刘三姐

Zhang Yimou has directed several outdoor folk musical/theatrical performances in China, and 印象・刘三姐 (“Impressions Liu Sanjie”) is one of them*.

I had the opportunity to watch 印象・刘三姐, set against the backdrop of Yangshuo’s impressive karst formations in Guilin. Most stunning was the opening scene, where karst outcrops were suddenly lit up.

The stage is a floating platform on the Li River (漓江) – in the darkness below lies the stage which extends out onto the river beyond:

for a sense of the scale of the performance’s backdrop – the bright spots of light in the foreground are actually flashes from cameras, while the lit structure is a pavillion used in one of the scenes. the setting was absolutely gorgeous:

Here’s what the performance area looks like in the day- the green things are the audience’s seats, while the stage is everything in front of it:

There are apparently about 600 cast members, all of whom are local fishermen. The opportunity to utilise such large amounts of manpower for a performance leads to stunning results – such a feat is only possible in China. This was just the first of several occasions where the sheer magnitude of China’s ‘people power’ was displayed.

A scene which featured the cast members carrying torches and running across the large stage. Beyond the left and right of this picture are also performance areas. I was quite impressed by how they were able to turn the flame on and off – i still haven’t figured out the trick behind the smoke-producing, switch-controlled torch.

This production is particularly known for its use of light i think, and it didn’t disappoint. The two streaks at the bottom-left are actually lengths of cloth:

Another example of the usage of cloth – all these people below were actually on a floating device that allowed them to glide over the water and the floating platform (that could be raised and lowered). Overheard in a conversation was that Singapore’s YOG opening ceremony might have borrowed some ideas from this performance, due to its usage of water – something which i quite liked actually!:

And here’s my favourite shot of that performance:

isnt it just spectacular?  All those tiny people – the white dots – are on their floating contraptions, getting ready to roll out the bolts of cloth.

Later in the performance, when the stage was completely dark, the performers walked out one by one in lit-up minority costumes and it just went on and on and on – i was totally stunned while trying to count exactly how many of them were involved in this section!

And then they did a whole series of things like this:

I really want to know how they did it! There was this particular segment where it was totally dark, then the costumes were lit up then turned off, one by one, at random areas on the stage. it was crazy, seeing this spot here illuminate then go off, then the next spot elsewhere on the stage, then over there, and over here, and so on.

I wonder if Singapore could pull off such a thing!

 

*: the others i know of are 印象・西湖 and  印象・丽江