Review | Tide of Era: epic dance drama portraying China’s development since the 1980s featured excellent performances and a moving story, though showed signs of naivety
- Presented by the China National Opera and Dance Drama, Tide of Era intersperses grand, large-scale group sequences with the story of an individual family
- Pan Yongchao brought brilliant technique and profound emotion to the central role during a performance at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre
An epic production boasting an original concept, inventive designs and excellent dancing, Tide of Era portrays China’s social, economic and technological development from the 1980s to the present day.
While the dance drama may at times seem to treat its overall theme in a simplistic manner, the individual stories that underpin it resonate and have depth.
It is presented by the China National Opera and Dance Drama Theatre, the largest national body of its kind in China, founded in 1964 and directly affiliated with the central government.
As you would expect from a state company, the work, which premiered in 2021, portrays the past 40 years in a consistently positive light – always onwards and upwards – with the grand, large-scale group sequences interspersed with the story of an individual family.
This family saga, by far the strongest aspect of the piece artistically, portrays both the ups and downs of living through a time of such rapid change and offers some intelligent insights and genuinely moving scenes.
