An arts critic in an American newspaper once described Shen Wei as "a master of detail" based on the fact that he can handle costume design, set design, make-up design and choreography single-handedly. She was right if we only look at a person's ability in multi-tasking. However, I believe that if we take into consideration Shen Wei's performing capability, we can arrive at a deeper interpretation of her comment.

Shen Wei studied Chinese opera before becoming a dancer. Part of the essence of Chinese opera is to accentuate detail through minimalism. Just imagine, in an "abstractly concrete" art form such as Chinese opera, if the performer cannot master every movement of his hands and body meticulously, or carefully control his singing and narration, it would be impossible for him to give the audience any aesthetic delights or emotional comfort. In Chinese opera, "detail" is a necessity if comprehension and performance are to come together as unity, because it is only through meticulous movements that the performer can make the invisible visible. Take Near the Terrace as an example. One will notice that Shen Wei pursues minimalism not only in the set design but also in the choreography. Near the Terrace is far from what we expect from a dance in the general sense – the movements of the dancers are restricted almost entirely to walking, falling down and rolling over. Besides the occasional side bouncing, all the movements proceed very slowly. However, these slowly moving shadows seem to deliberately suppress their breaths in their abdomen, such that one can feel the weighty, intrinsic energy transmitted from the dancers' movements. This is completely different from Western dance genres which often challenge the force of gravity. Though the movements are different, it has the charm of the gait in Chinese opera. Similar to what Eugenio Barba describes as "pre-expressive" characteristics and from the perspective of Chinese opera, the emphasis of this approach is on expressing the characters' state of being (he/she is happy, sorrow, dignified or tender etc.) rather than narrating. Therefore, in Near the Terrace, even though everything is minimal on the stage, if the audience can read the details in the movements, they will be able to grasp how the bodies on the stage feel about their being and understand the motif of Near the Terrace.

The other dance, The Rite of Spring, exhibits more clearly the operatic heritage in Shen Wei's creative works. What he pursues in The Rite of Spring is not the drama inside and outside the music(1), but rather the variety in movements, in particular the curved linear movements. Such movements often appear in Chinese folk dance, particularly in the movements of female dancers. The dancer lifts one arm high above her head with the palm facing up; by twisting her wrist, she brings the arm to a turning movement that leads the whole body to turn in one direction (such movement of turning one's body by twisting the wrist is also adopted in Chinese opera. Interestingly, in The Rite of Spring, the stage is divided into square patterns. While making the twisting movements, the dancers' bodies clearly draw lines that move like serpents. English painter William Hogarth once said, "Serpentine lines are nimble and lively, which whirl in different directions simultaneously and satisfy the eyes by leading them to chase after their infinite variety… They embody a variety of content."(2) In The Rite of Spring, Shen Wei further creates the juxtaposition of straight linear movements and serpentine linear movements, resulting in such variety as in painting composition. His creative works reveal similar pursuits as M. Duchamp's paintings(3) only that the former are more down-to-earth and more dance-oriented.

Of course, if Shen Wei were not also a painter, the Chinese cultural heritage in him would not have found a new way out in the West so easily.

Notes:

1. In 1913, Vaslav Nijinsky first choreographed a ballet of the same name with this composition by Igor Stravinsky. However, the radical choreography led to arguments between supporters and opponents in the theatre. Choreographers of later generations have also created works with this incident, including local choreographer Helen Lai.
2. From a translation of The Analysis of Beauty written by William Hogarth, translated by Yang Chengyin.
3. Duchamp once explained his painting Nude Descending a Staircase: "To be accurate, it cannot be considered a painting - it is a combination of the elements of motion, expressing time and space with the abstract representation of motion." (From a translation of A Concise History of Modern Painting, written by Herbert Read, translated by Li Changjun.)

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The English translation appears here with permission by International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong). Both this article and its original Chinese version are published in New Vision Arts Festival 2006 Critics' Guide (October 2006) by IATC(HK). The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not represent the stand of the presenter, the performing groups of the Festival nor the publisher.