中国神韻舞踊 CHINESE SHUN YUN DANCE

　中国神韻舞踊
 

４月２０日、「神韻藝術團」の舞踊を見てきた。この舞踊団はニューヨークにある中国古典舞踊劇団だ。舞台では男女各２０人ぐらいのダンサーが、伝統衣装を着てオーケストラの演奏に合わせて古典舞踊や民族舞踊を披露した。舞台いっぱいのデジタルスクリーンを背景にした女性の古典舞踊は、竜宮城の乙姫達のようでうっとりした。
　最も印象的だったのは背景スクリーンのデジタル映像と舞台のダンサー達の一体感だ。最初、巨大スクリーンに描かれている月から、蜂の群れのようなものが飛び出してきたかと思ったら、それが２０人ぐらいの小さな天女に代わり、月から離れてどんどん舞台に近づいてきて、人間の大きさとなり、舞台に降り立った瞬間に舞台のダンサーとなって踊りだすのだ。
　ミュージカル「孫悟空」でも同じであった。最初、背景スクリーンに描かれた遥か彼方の大きな山（写真参照）の頂にいた小さな孫悟空が、ピョンピョンと低い山に飛んでくるたびに身体が大きくなっていき、舞台に近づき、ついに舞台に降り立つと、孫悟空のダンサーに変わるというものだ。

 

 

CHINESE SHUN YUN DANCE
 

I enjoyed the music and dance performed by Shun Yun Performing Arts, a classical Chinese dance and music company based in New York, at Aichi Arts Center on April 20. Dozens of dancers, both female and male, clad in classical or modern Chinese costumes, danced accompanied by a live orchestra. The women’s classical dances were especially enchanting with stunning digital stage backdrops.
　　The most impressive part of the performance was the perfect interaction of the dancers on the stage and the digital image on the backdrops. I was amazed to see dozens of tiny heavenly maidens coming down toward the stage from the moon in the backdrop. When they first appeared in the moon, they were tiny, but they gradually became larger and larger until finally they approached the stage. The moment they alighted onto the stage, they turned into the real dancers on the stage.
　　In another musical drama, The Monkey King, a legendary Chinese monkey, stands on the top of a distant mountain in the backdrop (as shown in the picture). The monkey jumps to lower mountains two or three times, becoming larger and larger and finally jumps onto the stage turning into the real stage dancer disguised as the monkey. I had never seen such a perfect collaboration between the image and the stage.