Sadler’s Wells, London
August 30, 2024
Wing Chun (咏春), by the Shenzhen Dance Drama Company (深圳原创舞剧), tells the story of Yip Man (葉問), the wing chun martial arts master, who taught Bruce Lee. It’s a super evening; a perfect blend of dance, drama and martial arts.
The set is extraordinary, a revolving combination of three-dimensional flats, which meld themselves seamlessly into almost any architectural context required by the story. Constantly changing, they weave a magic spell on the audience, around, thorough, and in which the dancers tell their tale.
The dancers are also quite extraordinary. Impeccably choreographed and directed by Han Zhen (韩震) and Zhou Liya (周丽亚), their advanced skill, not just in dancing, but also in martial arts and drama, can only be truly appreciated by seeing them in performance several times, I suspect. Some of the martial arts sequences in Wing Chun leave one breathless, and wondering if you really saw, what you thought you saw. You did!
Photo Zhang Xidan
The performance is set in film studios in Shenzhen, where a group of young artists are making a film about wing chun. It follows their ups and downs in completing the film, showcasing the unique skills of Yip Man, and being inspired by him.
Faced with the incredible skill across three disciplines demonstrated by the entire cast, it seems unreasonable to give special mention to any one individual. However, even within this level of achievement, the two lead performers, Chang Hongji (常宏基), dancing Yip Man, and Feng Haoran (冯浩然), dancing the head of Taichi Academy, were outstanding. Also deserving of a mention are Xu Tianhui (许天慧) as Yip Man’s wife, Wing Sing, and Zhang Yashu (张娅姝), as the director of the Wing Chun film, whose dramatic performances were notable for their depth of character and emotion.
Photo Wang Xufeng
The music, composed by Yang Fen (杨芬), perfectly fits the changing moods of the piece.
Everything about Wing Chun exceeds expectations. If there is a minor criticism, it’s that the curtain calls, a mini production in themselves, do feel rather overdone. They detract from the outstanding performance by bringing the audience back to reality with a crash landing, rather than letting them float out of the theatre still entranced by what they have just experienced. But it is a stunning evening.
Wing Chun is at Sadler’s Wells, London to September 7, 2024.