Combines tradition with abstract

A dance-theater piece from renowned Chinese choreographer Yang Liping thrilled the Big Apple.

“It was absolutely fabulous, visually extraordinary, and it’s unlike anything I’ve seen before,” Jennifer, editor of a local New York magazine, told China Daily after seeing the debut performance of

at the David H. Koch Theater at the Lincoln Center in New York on Aug 8.

“The dancers were so athletic, their moves were so beautiful, and the story was so dynamic. I was never bored,” she adds.

which explores themes of war, power, betrayal and passion, made its US premiere with performances taking place between Aug 8 to 10 as part of the Mostly Mozart Festival.

Set during the epic battle between the Chu and Han armies in 202 BC, blends elements of martial arts, contemporary and Chinese folk dance, gymnastics and more, to interpret an encounter that changed the course of Chinese history.

Yang, chief choreographer and director, said in a previous interview that is a conceptual, experimental piece of performance art, which she created with an international perspective.

She attempts to cast a cold vision of the desires and fears that manifest in the depths of the human heart, to hurt and to be hurt, through the story of the Chu-Han Contention more than 2,000 years ago, as a reflection on the present world.

The performance contains many different elements of Chinese art, including those of dance, Peking Opera, music, sculpture and papercutting.

“For me, it’s an experiment,” Yang says. “Just to show the traditional Chinese elements onstage would be copying what other people have done. So I have melded them with a more contemporary way of passing the message to the audience.

“At the same time, I don’t feel that the Chinese audience is ready for only abstract things,” she says. “So there needs to be some traditional elements as well. It is a mixture of traditional and abstract. I’m striving for a Chinese way of developing contemporary art and dance onstage.”

“The dance of the concubine and Xiang Yu was the most incredible