Hamlet

Wednesday, February 27 – 7:30pm

All Tickets for this performance priced at $32 _{+fees & sales tax}

Founded in 2008, Beijing Dance Theater (BDT) is led by choreographer Wang Yuanyuan, together with visual artists Tan Shaoyuan and Hanjiang. The company has collaborated with many internationally renowned dramatists, musicians, and designers to elevate the level of Chinese contemporary dance. These collaborations have enriched international dance stages with truly world-class productions.

2016 marked the fifth anniversary of the BDT, a great occasion for another collaboration between Wang and director Feng Xiaogang – the two collaborated on Feng’s film The Banquet. The dance drama Hamlet is borne out of the film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This special Chinese Hamlet explores Hamlet’s psychological landscape from a fresh perspective. The dance company confronts his melancholy, his compassion for humanity, his doubt in the face of death and destruction. Wang and her dancers present both the beauty and darkness found within Hamlet.

Unlike some recent film adaptations of the Hamlet story, this version is set in no particular time. With the main characters extracted from the original work – the Ghost, the New King, the Queen, the prince and the Floral Spirit – the dancers shape a story of life, death, and love. This is a tragedy of epic proportions and Shakespearean tradition, and the stage presentation achieves a new summit in contemporary dance theatre.