The steps to a story

• Source: Global Times
• [11:15 June 25 2010]
• Comments

A scene from Tales of Two Cities. Photos: Courtesy of Wang Qing

Tales of Two Cities tells the story of famed Chinese female writer Eileen Chang and her experiences in two of China's most dynamic cities: Shanghai and Hong Kong, and tonight, a modern dance performance will pay tribute to the author and her works with their very own Tales of Two Cities.

The performance will involve the superb dancers from the City Contem-porary Dance Company (CCDC) from Hong Kong.

Eileen Chang (1920-1995) lived most of her life in Shanghai and Hong Kong, finally leaving for the US at the end of her days.

During her time in China she gathered a wealth of experiences during a time of political turmoil. But Chang's portrayal of daily life and love concentrates on the everyday.

The female resident choreographer with the CCDC, Helen Lai, created this particular work and told the Global Times that it was inspired by a photo of Eileen Chang during her last years in America and texts from the writer's works such as The Rouge of the North, telling the story of a beautiful young bride who marries the blind, bedridden son of a rich and noble family.

"However, my Tales of Two Cities will mainly focus on this writer's life and creativity during her years in Shanghai and Hong Kong," she said.

"She was undoubtedly an eminent talent, because her best works were created when she was only in her 20s," said Lai, who added that she believes Eileen Chang was an amazing young writer who had a keen eye for life and love.

"She really was a person with sensitive emotions, and I will give my own feelings and imagination to interpret this from a woman's point of view."

According to Lai, the story begins with Chang's final years in America, but gradu-ally, the plot flashes back to her younger days. Two dancers play the old and young Chang.

An old sofa sits center stage, giving the audience an impression of the California apartment in which Chang died.

"I want to build a sense of time interweaving, mystery over whether it is the earlier or later years of Chang's life, and I want to blur the lines of reality," Lai said.

There is a dance performance on the sofa full of sexual passion, which Lai said is adapted from a piece in The Rouge of the North.

"Chang's descriptions here are filled with passion and strength. The words themselves seem to have magic that can push readers forward," said Lai.

Chang's love stories deal with the stormy relationship between men and women and can be regarded as her most remarkable achievement.