Chinese dancer plays star role in adaptation of Ibsen's work

"The play was staged in the outdoors, and we performed till midnight," recalls Wang. "The artists easily got into the mood of the story, which was an exciting experience for us."

Wang adds that she received the invitation to perform in Norway from Kilden Theater last year and spent 41 days on choreography.

Before inviting Wang to join the play, the play's director Brigit Amalie Nilssen watched Wang's work, Qing Yi, or Moon Opera, which was adapted from a Chinese novel written by Bi Feiyu, and An Individual Soliloquy, which brings to life the journey of the Buddhist monk and scholar, Kumarajiva (344-413).

Nilssen was impressed by Wang's choreography and performance in the play. "Her choreography is smooth, beautiful and powerful. She brings out a combination of classic and contemporary elements onstage as well as bringing in a unique aesthetics from the East," he says.

Wang says Ibsen's plays are wildly popular in China, including A Doll's House and An Enemy of the People, which have been adapted into Chinese plays by established theaters, such as Beijing People's Art Theatre and the National Centre for the Performing Arts.

"When Ibsen wrote The Lady from the Sea, he was 60 years old. And during his exile in Germany and Italy, he longed for the sea," Wang says.