Chinese Martial Arts Dance Series: Episode VII

Artistic Director/Choreographer: Miranda Chin
Music Director/Composer: Chan Ming Chi
Premiere: 18 March 2008
Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre (HK)
No. of Performers: 16
Duration: 70mins

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Huangdi Neijing (Inner Canon of Huangdi) exploring the Origin of the Chinese Culture of Nourishing Life, Dancing to the Rhythm of Life of the Five Organs. Using the earliest ancient Chinese medical manual Huangdi Neijing as guiding thread in the pursuit of the function of ancient dancing which began as Xuandaofa to seek health, this dance is enriched by rhythmic motions from such sources as the Western Han Dynasty silk painting Mawangdui Daoyin Tu (Gymnastic Chart from Mawangdui), Chen Xiyi’s meditation chart, and life nourishing exercises like the Five Animal Plays, Eight Length of Brocade, Tendon Transformation Canon, and Six-Character Formula. Zhang Guangde’s Daoyin Yangshen Gong inspired the dancer’s creation from interpreting the life-nourishing rhythmic motions of “heart, liver, spleen, lung, and kidney” to transforming them into contemporary dance.