Dance Drama “Liberation” Staged in Shanghai

Liberation, a dance drama produced by China’s well-known director Zhang Jigang, hit the Shanghai Grand Theater stage on March 31.

The performance marks the start of the Shanxi Art Festival, an official activity designed to build up its cultural influence.

The show tells a love story from the early 1900s, which was set on the loess plateau, a landscape typical of Shanxi province. The protagonist, Xiaoxiao, decided to bind her feet as part of a notorious practice which, in the feudal ages, was considered a requirement before getting married. She believed the ritual would allow her to stick together with her beloved man, Liangliang. But the process failed and left her disabled. The man, however, did not abandon the devoted girl and became her guide to self-examination and liberation, both physically and mentally.

As China’s first dance opera, the performance mixes a flawless combination of story-telling, singing and dancing, and traditional Chinese performance artistry in an effort to improve its dramatics and meet the changing tastes of the audience.

First appearing on Sept 1, 2009, the show has been gained popularity and received praise from critics. The performance looks further into the Chinese society by focusing on common people’s lives. The feet-binding motif is present throughout the story, and it has become a metaphor of the impediment for women’s liberation.

The performance also highlights body language. In one of the 18 scenes, dozens of girls sit on the stage with their feet happily moving around, giving an ample visual richness and more importantly, a graphic depiction of the natural innocence and briskness in a girl, which were distorted later by feet-binding.