Ancient meets modern in dramatic show

Chinese musician Wu Na cooperates with performers of Thai classical mask dance in the show Black and White (above). [Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]

As a big fan of contemporary dance, Wu wanted to work with a choreographer whose dance is "slow but emotional".

When she talked about the idea with her friend, American pianist Kit Young, back in 2010, she was introduced to Klunchun, who is an old friend of Young.

Then Wu invited Klunchun to join in a 10-day workshop of her Guqin Theater project, which she initiated in Beijing in 2010 as a platform to communicate with artists around the world.

At the time, Klunchun was preparing for Black and White and he invited Wu to create music for the dance and play her instrument in the show.

"Her music was suitable for the atmosphere of the show. The sound range of her instrument is very wide and powerful," Klunchun says.

"During our cooperation, I can feel that Chinese culture is very disciplined in terms of the arts," says the dancer-choreographer, who mentions that his ancestors were from China and his family still does ceremonies following Chinese rituals.

What surprises Klunchun is that besides the guqin, Wu also adapted music from the electronic music duo FM3－American musician Christiaan Virant and Chinese musician Zhang Jian－into the dance work.

"I was surprised to find out that my music matched Klunchun's choreography," says Wu. "The music and movements occur naturally onstage."

Wu, who was born in Chongqing, has been studying the guqin since age 9. As the first musician in China to receive a master's degree for guqin performance from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, she went to New York on an Asian Cultural Council fellowship in 2008.

"During the six months in the United States, I watched many shows, including modern takes on ancient instruments, which were very inspiring," says Wu.

Both Wu and Klunchun believe that traditional art forms can work across cultures.

"People like to look at it as 'cultural property' and say it should be conserved. In my opinion, a traditional art form is always ready to communicate with the present world," Klunchun says.

If you go

9:30 pm, Nov 11. Forbidden City Concert Hall, inside Zhongshan Park, west of Tian'anmen Square, 010-6559-8285.

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