Fly to Heaven
Music by Zhang Fu-quan, Yang Chun-lin
Depicted in the famous painting ”Han Xizai’s Evening Party”, the Green Waist was one of the most popular dances from the Tang Dynasty period. The story is that Emperor Dezong ordered court musicians to combine extracts from the most beautiful contemporary music which went form the “Green Waist”, one of the series of graceful Ruan (soft) dances suitable to be performed at banquets and other court functions. Ruan dances like Green Waist were influences by the graceful spinning or whirling dances that can be seen in wall paintings in the remote Dunhuang Caves that show a series of ‘Flying Devatas’ – beautiful goddesses who accompany dead souls into heaven. The journey to the afterlife is an important part of Chinese mythology. Between assignments Devatas live in the sky and perform beautiful dances; their swirling sleeves and skirts stir the winds and move the clouds and influence the weather, which make the Devatas very influential in rural agricultural societies. Yu Wei has revived costume and movement elements to create an approximation…