CPAA Theatres to Present LEGEND OF THE SUN, 1/30-31

As London prepares to celebrate Chinese New Year, a fifty strong cast of dancers will portray the legend of the Zhuang people in this visually spectacular performance

Choreographed by Shuangbai Feng | Composed by Gangbao Liu

Sadler's Wells, 30th & 31st January 2015

PRESS NIGHT: Friday 30th January, 7:30pm, Sadler's Wells Theatre

From the Guangxi province of southern China, home of the majority of China's Zhuang people, comes a dance spectacle depicting the Zhuang people's ceaseless pursuit of happiness and their bravery against hardship. The story tells of a young mother in search of the Sun whilst raising her child to continue her journey once she has gone.

A long time ago, the ancestors of the Zhuang lived in a place without sunshine. It was said that far beyond the horizon lived a flaming Sun that would bring to their homeland light and warmth. Everyone in the community volunteered for the adventurous journey in search of the Sun. Finally, a mother-to-be steps forward and says "Please let me go. Maybe I cannot make it to the end of the sky, but my baby will continue my journey and head towards the Sun." Here begins an epic journey for mother and son, as they travel across mountains and through wilderness, to find the place the sun rises, facing challenges along the way.

For this production at Sadler's Wells, producers CPAA will be holding an audition to find two performers from amongst dance and musical students at selected universities in London. The winners will train with the company in January and perform in the show as part of the ensemble.

Coming to London in the year of the UK-China year of cultural exchange, Legend of the Sun has been awarded several national arts awards and honours, including the Golden Lotus Award, the Outstanding Production Award at the 7th China Theatre Festival, and was selected as one of the 2004-2005 "Ten Best Productions" by the National Project for the Distillation of Stage Art.

The set design for the show is inspired by the unique landscape of the Guangxi province, one of China's most beautiful regions. Located in southern China, Guangxi is the size of Great Britain, and is home to 90% of China's Zhuang population, approximately 14 million people.

Choreographer Feng Shuangbai said "In the process of creating the performance, we encountered many challenges in uniting the dance and the original story. What should the focus of our show be? Should it be the Zhuang people's spirit to overcome their predicament, or the sacrifice of a mother? After many discussions, we decided that the key to the story is how the most difficult times encourage people to challenge themselves, beyond their own self interest."