Asia Dance Channel

The Legend of White Snake

8 August 2009

Penang Chinese Town Hall

Audience Review
Rewritten by ADC

In August, Penangites were feasted to a contemporary dance drama, Legend of White Snake, produced by Eastern Dancer and Dance Factory Art Academy. In Penang, such a performance is rare and the audience - children, adults, locals and foreigners, came full force to support the local production.

The engaging full-length production felt fleetingly short, and the one and a half-hour show was over even before the audience realised it.

There are several versions of this legend but ultimately it weaves a tale of betrayal, love and loss. This version tells of a young man, Xu Xuan, who falls in love with a beautiful woman, unaware that she is a “White Snake” who has taken on human form after 1000 years of meditation. She is accompanied by her sister, the “Green Snake,” who also takes on a human form as a woman called Bai Shu Zhen. Unfortunately, their love is cursed from the start, as a relationship between human beings and demons are forbidden. At the same time, Shu Zhen felt left out as the bond between the young man and her sister grows stronger. In the end, the heart-broken Shu Zhen wreaked havoc by summoning a flood and then killing Xu Xuan.

The story was conveyed through the language of contemporary dance and each scene was approached with vastly different ideas and dance techniques. Some scenes even combined the use of Chinese dance, Belly dance and martial arts.

The organizers put in a lot of effort into this production – and this was evident in the meticulous detail that goes into the costumes, make-up, hair style and backdrops.

There were two scenes that really stood out. “The Fight” scene could not be more realistic – the simple, bland stage accentuated the fighting action with dancers battling it out with swords and sticks. In the “beautiful Xi Hu lake” scene, a good mix of lighting, stage props and a beautiful backdrop that painted a lake created an ambience of serenity, as the people went about taking walks around the lake, while playful youths toy with their umbrellas.

Although the show was catered for the Chinese, the story told needed no translation. Dance was a language that spoke to all. The Penangites not only got a good grasp of the story, but it left them begging for more.