My New Favorite Ballet - Raise the Red Lantern

My New Favorite Ballet - Raise the Red Lantern
Originally uploaded by triciawang.

Brooklyn - BAM
Zhang Yimou'sballet version of Raise the Red Lantern by the National Ballet of China finally came to NYC. He not only directs movies (Hero, House of Flying Daggers,The Road Home, Red Sorghum) - but he can direct a damn great ballet. I loved the choreography. this last scene made me cry.
The ability to symbolically represent an action in physical movement is what makes or breaks a dance story.
In this picutre the 3 main characters are being executed. The soldiers in the background beating them to death by hitting the white screen with whips that lead red paint marks. The concomittant sound of whips leaving stains of blood lines and convulsions of dancers--was so visceral and moving that I was crying crying. In the end, the 3 characters that everyone falls in love with die. What's a good Chinese tragedy without your favorite characters dying?