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With the magical glow of a spotlight, grandiose sets and geometrically perfect choreography, the National Ballet of China’s “Chinese New Year (A Ballet In Two Acts)” performance transformed the Kennedy Center’s stage into an immersive celebration of Chinese culture. Playing from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2 in the Kennedy Center’s Opera House, the ballet reimagined the classic ballet “The Nutcracker” to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
If you are someone who enjoys storytelling through art, this ballet is sure to keep you hooked. With a total run time of two hours, including the 15-minute intermission, the showcase was entirely immersive, transporting the audience into a beautiful artistic reimagination.
“The Nutcracker,” Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovosky’s classic ballet, revolves around a young girl, Clara, who receives a Nutcracker doll as a Christmas present. When the doll magically comes to life on Christmas Eve, Clara experiences thrilling adventures in the Land of Sweets with the Nutcracker. The National Ballet of China’s interpretation, in contrast, features a young girl, Yuan Yuan, played by Fang Mengying, Zhao Xinyue and Zhou Yue, receiving the doll as a gift for the New Year before traveling through a fantasy world with him.
The performance seamlessly wove traditional Lunar New Year mythology and classic elements of “The Nutcracker” together into an overall display of artistry, expertly reinterpreting the well-known ballet. Nian beasts, mythical creatures central to the origin story of several Lunar New Year traditions, replaced the usual mice as villains, while the Crane Queen, portrayed by Zhao, replaced the Sugar Plum Fairy. In the opening scene, a parade of zodiac masks for the Lunar New Year party replaced the Christmas party from “The Nutcracker.” , outlining how the interpretation kept the central story of “The Nutcracker” while connecting it to a different holiday.
The one element that remained was the character of the Nutcracker, played by Chen Zhuming, Guan Chongzheng and Chang Sinuo in human form, remaining a nutcracker while in doll form. Though some may find this choice out of place amid every other change, I enjoyed this connection to the original.
The show’s innovation and uniqueness differentiated it from other ballets. Specifically, the Dance of Fans, the Dance of Silk, the Dance of Kites and the Dance of Gold Ingot stood out as the best adaptations of “Nutcracker” productions. In the Dance of Gold Ingot, which reimagined Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of Mother Ginger and the Polichinelles, dozens of children emerged from a gold structure on center stage, an awe-inspiring and intricate reimagining of a well-loved dance sequence.
The stage and set elevated every aspect of the performance, with designer Gong Xun arranging flying kites, silk curtains and traditional Chinese fans to form an enthralling setting. One of the most visually stunning sets in the show was the Porcelain Kingdom, complete with large glass structures that seemed to hang from the sky, illuminating Yuan Yuan and the prince. The lights washed the dancers in glitter, changing the costumes to represent light and sparkly feathers.
However, the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, led by prominent Chinese conductor Zhang Yi, and the National Children’s Chorus were the true backbone of the performance, enhancing every movement with their live music. The flutes, clarinets and French horn were highlights of the ensemble, heightening every dramatic scene and lightening every romantic moment.
Jane Raleigh, Kennedy Center director of dance programming, said she wanted to present Chinese culture and diverse perspectives to a new audience through the show.
“I always get excited when a work onstage can teach us something new about a culture different than our own,” Raleigh wrote in the program notes. “This company and this work reveal the delight, the beauty and the nuances of how Lunar New Year is celebrated in China through a language we can all understand — ballet.”
“Chinese New Year” certainly succeeded in its goal of fusing Chinese cultural tradition with Tchaikovsky’s classic ballet. The whole performance was enthralling, transporting the audience by integrating intricate set and costume design with beautiful dance. The show went beyond the boundaries of ballet and exemplified how classic ballets can be taken to a new level through creative artistic reinterpretation.