— ispairedwith thesubtler traditionsofold
China. Similarly,modern,movingNanjing
servesasa tremendousbackdrop for those
quietcorners, the lotusseedsandsecretgar-
densthatallawaitifyoujustleavethevillage
ofShanghaibehind.
then travels toHades to rescueher. It then
getsevenmore supernatural from there, as
he looks to livehappilyever afterwithher
eventhoughshehasdied.
The real powerof theproduction is that
it has that samemix of old and new that
makes Nanjing so alive. In the dancing,
modernChina—muscular, active, ecient
N
ANJING ISAS RICH INCULTUREAS IT
is inhistory, and the city is sending
acultural ambassadorof sorts toNewYork
Citythiswinter.
TheChina JinlingDanceCompany of
Nanjing givesme a sneak preview of
The
PeonyPavilion
, aclassicKunquopera inter-
preted throughbothmodern andChinese
dance.Theshow,which featuresmorethan
50dancersandhigh-wireflying,nottomen-
tionafairlyconvincingdemonarmy, iscom-
ing to theLincolnCenter inJanuary for a
four-daystay.
The sets are rich, and thedancers emit
bothgraceandpower.Butit’stheplay’sstory,
writteninthelastdaysofthe16thcenturyby
a retiredgovernorof Jiansuprovince, that
ismostmoving.
ThePeonyPavilion
is, ines-
sence, a
RomeoandJuliet
for theTangDy-
nasty,butwithahappyending.Ateenagegirl
fallsforastrikingyoungscholarshemeetsin
adream,butshe iscrushedwhenshe learns
her familyhasalreadychosensomeoneelse
forher tomarry. Shewastesawayanddies
indespair, only to realize thatheroriginal
lovewas the samepersonher parentshad
chosen forher.He,meanwhile, grievesbut
NATHANTHORNBURGH
isa journalistbased inNewYork
anda contributingwriter at
Time
magazine.
LEFT,FROMTOP:
theChaotianPalace, now the
NanjingMunicipalMuseum; the JohnRabehouse
ABOVE:
aperformanceof
ThePeonyPavilion
ThePeony
Pavilion
willbepresentedat
theDavidH.KochTheater
atLincolnCenter
inNewYorkCityfrom
Jan.-, .Fortickets,
call( )
-
orgoto
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
DECEMBER 01, 2011
39
