Festival returns Yi culture to its origins
With an authentic play, folk songs and farm dances, ethnic group teaches global audiences of deep traditions, reports Cheng Yuezhu.
Every year since 2019, Xichang, Sichuan province, has hosted the Daliangshan Theater Festival, treating theatergoers to a series of international performances in addition to the city's natural landscape that includes Qionghai Lake and surrounding mountains.
While it might not have a long history with contemporary theater, the city does not lack cultural richness brought by the Yi ethnic group, being capital of the Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture.
The festival has paid homage to Yi rituals and traditions since its inception. In 2019, for the first edition of the festival, ticket sales began on the day of the traditional Torch Festival. And the festival officially opened on New Year's Day in the Yi calendar.
For this year's sixth edition, the festival again honors the Yi ethnic culture with the original play Star Returning, which opened the festival on Nov 8 and interprets ethnic traditions through an international lens.
Star Returning is a collaborative piece by artists from home and abroad, coproduced by the International Theatre Institute ITI, China Theatre Association, Shanghai Theatre Academy and Liangshan Cultural Tourism Group.
