Review-Storm Clouds-Hong Kong Dance Company
14-12-14
By: Joyce Wong
Based on a local iconic martial arts-fantasy comic series - The Storm Rider, illustrated by Ma Wing Sing - Storm Clouds is a cinematic, first ever, dance production of the much adapted story. The plot narrates the intertwined fates of two men, Lip Fung (the Storm, played by Yuan Shenglun) and Bo Ging-wan (the Cloud, played by Sun Gongwei) as they battle each other in love, hate, and brotherhood. Adopted by the legendary tyrant Hung Ba (Chen Jun) as children, Lip and Bo emerge as great warriors in their youth. A prophecy warns Hung Ba that the Storm and Cloud will be his doom and so he decides to turn Lip and Bo against each other with his daughter, Hao Chi (Pan Lingjuan), to secure his supremacy. Relationships fracture, hearts are broken and havoc ensues as the dancers enact the story in impressive choreography by the acclaimed Yang Yuntao over four acts.
My experience with dance dramas has been that either the story gives way to the choreography or the choreography is compromised to translate a far too ambitious plot. The script (Sin Chun-tung) for Storm Clouds is surprisingly well adapted; even without reading the programme notes you will understand what’s happening on stage. The scenes of each act flowed into each other seamlessly and the plot progressed in effective economy — Lip and Bo ‘grew up’ in a matter of seconds with a blackout; simultaneous action was often employed to move the story forward at a good pace.
The drama was as enjoyable to watch as the dance thanks to the expressive dancers. Both male leads danced their characters with vigour and power. Clad in costumes fans of the comic and movies would be happy with (Eddy Mok), Yuan opened their introductory duet with challenging stands and stretches while Sun showed great height in a split leap. Pan was dainty and graceful in her fluid steps and extensions as she vacillated between the affections of both men. The chorus was a great complement to the lead dancers and definitely enriched the plot. I particularly enjoyed their choreography in Act II ‘Split’, when the male chorus danced as emotional extensions of the two men and the female chorus that of Hao Chi as the trio got caught up in a love triangle. Though some scenes dragged a little, overall the dance kept me interested till the end.
Act II was definitely a highlight for me because the love triangle was choreographed extremely well. After Hao Chi chose Lip over Bo, Sun danced in anguish in a brooding solo. The soft-hearted Hao comes to his comfort only to duet in a conflicted liaison in the water before her wedding day with Lip. (Yes, the apron of the stage is a bed of water - though raincoats are provided, audience in the first three rows should be prepared to get wet.) As Hao and Bo entangle in lifts and jumps downstage, Lip emerges upstage left in his groom gown with a chorus dressed in white and veiled in red. The music flows into a traditional Chinese wedding march and the chorus start dancing in sequence like a Chinese lion dance. The bride is summoned reluctantly away from Bo as the chorus engulfs and dresses her for the wedding. Hao and Bo’s rendezvous was slid into the wedding in a beautifully choreographed, seamless transition. Other highlights included the showdown between Lip and Bo in Act III as they fought with cinematic splashes in the water and their battle with Hung Ba in Act IV as they flew in heroic jumps and kicks with the help of aerial ribbons.
The stage design (Tsang Man-tung) was minimal but interesting, especially with the bed of water downstage. The digital images (John Wong), ranging from calligraphic brushstrokes to thunder and lightning to abstract kaleidoscopic patterns, projected in the background to support the mood or storyline in each scene, were ambiently effective. Together with the laser beams, dramatic spotlights and atmospheric lighting (Yeung Tsz-yan), as well as a great score combining the Chinese and the Western, the traditional and the modern (Lee Che-yi, Choi Sai-ho), all elements of the production coordinated to create wonderful moving pictures. The props in the production were also used very well, in a simple but symoblic style - from tiny details such as Lip’s fan and Bo’s cape (establishing characterisation in the introduction) to the stage-size translucent black veil used in Hao’s funeral elegy in Act III.
First published in 1989, The Storm Rider is due to finale at the end of this year after more than twenty years of serialization. This production by the Hong Kong Dance Company definitely anticipates a perfect full stop to the comic classic. Though obviously much reduced from the comic strip narratives, fans of the series should enjoy seeing their characters come alive in dance onstage. For those who are not familiar with the comic strips, you might just be intrigued into reading them after watching this performance.
Storm Clouds is playing through December 14th. For more information, click here.
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