Shanghai and Edinburgh artists to co-produce Chinese dance performance

SHANGHAI - Shanghai and Edinburgh international art festivals on Thursday signed a memorandum of cooperation to commission and produce a Chinese contemporary dance performance "The Rite of Spring."

The Rite of Spring is the newest dance composition choreographed by Yang Liping, China's leading dancer and choreographer.

Based on Tibetan culture, the Rite of Spring, tells the enchanting love-hate story between a lion, a beautiful woman, and a senior monk, and pays tribute to the eternal theme of love and freedom.

As a signature character in all Yang Liping's works, an image of a peacock will also appear on stage. The peacock will be reborn from nirvana at the end of the production.

The Rite of Spring will make its international debut in October during the 20th China Shanghai International Arts Festival (CSIAF), and move onto the stage at the 72nd Edinburgh International Festival (EIF) in August 2019.

Joanna Baker, managing director of the EIF, said that the collaboration on a new version of the Rite of Spring marks a commitment to show contemporary Chinese works to global audiences in Edinburgh.

"We first talked about the project in Edinburgh in February 2017. Now we hope that it is just the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership." said Baker.

"Shanghai is becoming a city which is globally recognized for its culture. The CSIAF is huge, massively ambitious, and growing very fast," she added.

The CSIAF was established in 1999. It holds and invites theater performances from more than 60 countries and regions every year. The EIF is the world's most influential art event and celebrated its 70th anniversary last year.