Chinese Martial Arts Dance Series: Episode VI

Artistic Director/Choreographer: Miranda Chin
Music Director/Composer: Chan Ming Chi
Live Music: Shanghai Yin Yuan Music Ensemble
Premiere: 2-3 February 2007
Theatre, Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre (HK)
No. of Performers: 12 (dancers); 5 (live musicians)
Duration: 70mins

The Transitional Changes of the Five Elements as demonstrated in Martial Arts Dance and the Elusiveness of Qi. This work uses the ‘twelve creature forms’ of martial arts as the main line of choreography, and is supplemented by variations of Chinese painting brushstrokes and fundamental moves in Tai Chi. (The twelve creatures are the cock, the Chinese alligator, the monkey, the sparrow hawk, the dragon, the tai bird, the swallow, the horse, the snake, the tiger, the eagle and the bear.) The live music accompaniment brings out the Five Elements - Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth. The invisible qi (or ‘air flow’) suggests the invigorating forces of Nature and the close link between all living things, including Man. The performance shows the changes of forms, expressions, sounds, shapes and transitional stages.