DANCE REVIEW

Women flow like water in spectacle

By Sid Smith | Tribune critic

January 28, 2008

In many respects, the Chinese New Year Spectacular resoundingly lives up to its name.

The term "spectacular" may whiff of self-promotion, but the show, which played Arie Crown Theater over the weekend, is indisputably a spectacle. Dozens of dancers and musicians flood the stage in a parade of brightly colored intricately detailed silken costumes, while the instrumentation ranges from traditional drums to bunches of chopsticks.

Backdrop projections, meanwhile, not only evoke soothing, pastoral landscapes, but include moving images that zoom around the screen with cinematic ingenuity -- in one fable, a few characters portrayed by live dancers magically merge with their pictorial representations, who then fly off to paradise.

The program blends Chinese traditional dance with hints of ballet and flashy gymnastics. There's a religious subtext and criticism of current government oppression that have garnered some controversy.

But at heart, this is another installment of the long line of ensembles that celebrate a particular cultural tradition with a lavish variety show. We've seen Spanish, African, Georgian, Russian, Ukrainian and Polish varieties for years now.

The Chinese New Year Spectacular is more uneven than the better of these predecessors. The abstract ensemble dances, particularly those from the women, are more successful than the storytelling selections, which too often settle for simplistic emotional pull. The solo singers aren't very exciting, either, although some of the most jaw-dropping moments came from the thunderous intensity of a solo pianist named Yan Li.

The women, meanwhile, make for a beautiful and haunting ensemble. They are as delicate as they are quick, and their skills include a nimble mastery of traditional talents, such as the classic fan dance. Here their fluttering arms, gently raised legs and swift whirls evoke the precision and poetry of a corps de ballet, an image they reprise with another work showing off their inimitable ability to balance tea bowls on their heads.

Their best number is an exquisite selection evoking water, an indescribably seductive mix of fluid dancing and clever silk costuming that gives the women the appearance of having billowy fabric waterfalls cascading from their limbs.