As the program of 2015 “High art into campus”, Hangzhou Opera and Dance Theatre performed Meet the Grand Canal at ZWU on the evening of May 25th themed with “the story of water into campus to meet you”.
Meet the Grand Canal is made up of four scenes: “construction”, “prosperity”, “oblivion” and “a view of canal”. As a “talking” dance drama, it started like a modern drama as players recited long sections of lines with flexible and expressive body language unique to dance drama. The canal was being constructed in the mighty drum beat accompanied by the roars of the striving players in shabby clothes. It was followed by the flow of “water” in white veil and the emergence of prosperity with gorgeous palace court garment. Yet bumpy was the fate of the canal just like her birth whose pollution at present was showed in a way of “news broadcast” as the decrepit “water spirit” danced solely and helplessly who eventually fell as if the Canal reached her destination. But more people saw the struggle and came to rescue it from the mud and thus the canal had a new rebirth and ran forth witnessed by the people.
Each scene conveyed distinctive emotions as the audience’s facial expressions changed accordingly. They frowned at the depression, exclaimed smilingly for the unification of the flouring age, shed tears for the heartbroken oblivion and cheered for the rescue. At the end of the performance, all the players in Hangzhou Opera and Dance Theatre signed the post as a souvenir.
It is learned that Meet the Grand Canal has been giving 48 performances in 10 months with 100,000 audiences in 11 cities covering a journey of 17,200 kilometers to arouse the awareness of protecting the Canal. This “High art into campus” activity not merely brought visual and auditory enjoyment to students but also strengthened their awareness of environmental protection and made them rethink the current state of the cultural heritage.