Saratoga Springs is a ballet town. Thus, when Saratoga Performing Arts Center booked the National Ballet of China for three shows this week, fans flocked to the amphitheater.
But the Chinese company, with nearly 100 dancers and a full orchestra, is not what audiences here are accustomed to. The Chinese, as seen in Fei Bo’s version of “The Peony Pavilion” on Tuesday night, is slow and simmering, with little of the fireworks that American audiences have come to crave. Watching this love story between Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei was like witnessing the creep of a bloom opening — it’s beautiful, but it takes patience.
The story, dating back 400 years to the Ming Dynasty and best known as a 20-hour opera, centers on the lovers who first encounter each other in a dream. When Liniang awakens, she seeks out Liu, but to no avail. Distraught, she withers away and dies.
Fortunately, when Liniang faces the Infernal Judge in hell, he insists she return to the living as Liu is her true love and her destiny is to be his wife. She rises from the dead, to be introduced to the flesh and blood Liu for the first, eternally happy time.
The production rides along to an odd blend of Eastern and Western music, including excerpts from Debussy’s “Afternoon of the Faun” and Gustav Holst’s “The Planets.”
Composer Guo Wenjing’s unusual score, which was played with gusto by the orchestra, suits a narrative as it has all the crashing highs and quiet lows.
But despite the musical landscape, “The Peony Pavilion” is subdued, as if the dancers are too reserved or polite to ply the ravages of unrequited love. It takes until the wedding, the ballet’s finale, before the music and dance surge as one stirring power.
Zhu Yan danced the role of Liniang opposite Ma Xiaodong as Liu. A delicate wisp of a dancer, Yan looked to melt away in front of our eyes as the grieving Liniang. Xiaodong, while emoting loneliness, is a one-dimensional lover, fantasizing about Liniang’s lovely feet of which he is obsessed.
What is slightly confusing are Liniang’s alter egos, including the flower goddess (Zhang Jian) in red and the singing Kunqu Liniang (Yu Xuejiao) in heavy robes.
While there is a sense they are one, their realities are separate. They appear as outside observers to Liniang’s heart break.
The simple sets and silky costumes were sumptuous. Michael Simon designed the set pieces that framed the stage, which included a giant stripped branch in the garden that dissected the space along with lush peonies the size of beanbags. At times, the peonies were lovely, as in the garden. But in other scenes, such as in the underworld, they appear as menacing black powerpuffs that slam to the floor.
Emi Wada designed the flowing costumes that enhanced the dreamlike qualities of the ballet.
Audiences beware, this sweet reverie might have some in the seats nodding into their own dream.
The National Ballet of China will repeat its performance of “Peony Pavilion” at 2 and 8 p.m. Wednesday at SPAC.
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