REVIEW / THEATRE

LEGEND OF THE MOON

A-Smart Media and AC Music Entertainment

The Star Theatre/Last Friday

If you loved the choreography of the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony, this Mandarin production might have appealed to you as well as it also offered impressive co-ordination and spectacle.

After all, Legend Of The Moon, a 90-minute cultural stage performance, is directed by Chinese choreographer Zhang Jigang, best known for co-directing the Beijing Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies.

The show is performed by Liuzhou Arts Theatre and brings to life the culture and heritage of one of the minority races of southern China - the Dong people.

This was its overseas premiere.

The production comprised a series of creative and evocative vignettes.

One strong number was a group dance titled Creaking Water Wheel, where five women held onto a horizontal beam and demonstrated fleet and nifty footwork in perfect synchronisation.

In another segment, titled Joy Of Fish, seven men used their bodies to form mesmerising patterns - at times resembling a fish's gills; at other times, its fins, rotating and pushing against water.

Several translucent screens, made up of strings attached to the ceiling, allowed projected videos to create a world enveloping the performers.

While there was no plot or character development here, there was no denying that the show was a visual feast.

Watch segments from Legend Of The Moon at http://str.sg/4PD9