National Ballet of China, Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Center, July 22-26, 1998.

GRAND THEATRE, HONG KONG CULTURAL CENTRE, HONG KONG JULY 22-26, 1998 REVIEWED BY KEVIN NG

The National Ballet of China (formerly called the Central Ballet of China), directed by Zhao Ruheng, opened its Hong Kong engagement with its production of Giselle. What immediately impressed me about this very proficient troupe was its fine schooling. I admired the uniformity in style of the Act II corps de ballet, especially a similarity in height and upper bodies that is lacking even in some well-known Western companies, such as Britain's Royal Ballet.

The casting was praiseworthy. Myrtha, the Queen of the Wilis, was danced on opening night by Hou Honglan, a tall dancer with an exceptionally long line whose amplitude projected the requisite grandeur. Albrecht was danced by Xu Gang, a potential danseur noble whose height and long limbs would be envied by any company. His easy elevation was delightful.

Li Yan's Giselle was more in her element as a Wili in Act II. In Act I, she did not have the fragility of an innocent peasant girl in love, and her acting in the mad scene was bland. But she has an iron-clad technique and dances full-out. She managed all the hops on pointe in her Act l solo, as well as the fiendishly difficult series of spinning arabesques en dehors when she first appeared in Act II.

The choreographic text in this production is mostly authentic, and seems to be derived from the Bolshoi tradition. I was glad to see the mime scene of Giselle's mother foretelling her daughter's destiny, often cut, retained in this production. The decor and costumes were lovely and tasteful.

A common defect in the corps dancers' training was a noticeably weak turnout, resulting in movement that appeared flat. Pictorially, the dancers looked fine, but this lack of a spatial third dimension left a gap in my kinesthetic response. Furthermore, their musicality, as revealed in their lack of phrasing, was very elementary by Western standards. I also missed any contrasts in tone and scale in the gifted leading dancers. The hard-edged staccato style in Hou's Myrtha quickly became monotonous to watch, for instance.

Following Giselle the company presented its signature work, The Red Detachment of Women, a revolutionary propaganda ballet that now looks dated but is still fascinating as a period curiosity. It tells the story of a poor peasant girl, Qionghua, who narrowly escapes being sold as a slave by a wealthy landowner, Nan Batian, thanks to the help of Red Army cadre Hong Changqing. She then joins the Red Detachment and helps it defeat the capitalist enemy.

Most impressive of all was the sheer commitment of the whole cast. Despite the flimsy choreography (a team effort by three choreographers--Li Chengxiang, Jiang Zuhui, and Wang Xixian), the dancers' faith in the drama made the characters they portrayed look larger than life. Zhuang Hua, as Hong Changqing, was particularly expressive as an actor. His eyes seemed to burn like flames. His signature pose--upraised arms with clenched fists--emphasized his heroic stance. As Qionghua, however, Zou Zhirui made a rather subdued impact, though her dancing was competent enough.

The ballet consists of a prologue and six scenes. Scene Two, celebrating the founding of the Red Detachment, includes a lot of joyful dancing. The various sections, with dancers waving flags, pointing machine guns, and brandishing knives, has a folksy vivaciousness that reminded me of August Bournonville's ballets.

The fourth scene, set in the Red Army camp, has a lively dance with village girls handling their bamboo hats as though they were the tambourines in Don Quixote. In the ensuing battle scene, episodes of sword fighting, cannon shots, and machine gun warfare have a surging momentum that is theatrically exciting. Later, the sight of the Red Army members grand jeteing across the stage provides a triumphant climax to the panache of the choreography.

The National Ballet Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Bian Zushan and Liu Ju, played splendidly on both occasions.