Renowned Chinese dancer Yang Liping's original dance production "The Peacock" premiered at Shaanxi City Hall in Xi'an last Thursday as part of the fine arts promotion project initiated by auto manufacturer BMW and the artist.

 "'The Peacock' is a creative work, which will definitely give you a variety of different feelings. Of course, the theme is encountering and discovering the meaning of life: love, hate, desire and so on. The masterpiece brings a visual impact and psychological shock to the audience and art lovers. At the same time, on the 'BMW Master Hall' platform, I sincerely share the beauty of art with more friends, letting everyone learn more about national dance and Oriental art," said Yang.

"The Peacock" is made up of four chapters, representing the four seasons in a year. It represents a bona fide exploration of the world as well as an understanding of life and human nature.

Spring shows the harmonious coexistence between creation and passion. The land awakes from silent slumber. The peacock Saduo explores the beauty and misery of living.

Summer represents the celebration of romantic youthfulness and restless lust. Gaya and Saduo meet here and fall in love at first sight. The crow Luban, drawn in by the beautiful peacock dance, is filled with envy at the affection between Gasa and Saduo. He imprisons them, creating a conflict of obsession and choices.

Autumn is life's splendid offering, as well as the pain and desolation that no life can escape. The peacock Gaya, unable to save Saduo from her cage, is filled with sorrow. He pleads with Luban to give her back her freedom. Luban proposes a trade for Gaya's splendid coat of feathers. After much struggle, Gaya finally agrees to the trade.

Winter is the quiet smile left to the world after departure. Saduo has gained her freedom, but Gaya has paid for it with his life. All living beings are touched by her song of sorrow.

Each character is given a symbolic name in the play. The female peacock played by Yang Liping is named Saduo, the male peacock is named Gaya, and the crow is named Luban, which respectively represent three aspects of human nature: light and awareness, dedication and sacrifice, fear and greed. The weakness of human nature is completely exposed in this complex triangle, but dedication and love finally allow the characters to find the true meaning of life through the seasons.

"This dance drama is so wonderful. What impressed me most is the girl named Caiqi, who is constantly turning from beginning to end.  The stage lighting design is also a highlight," said Gao Yang, a member of the audience.

"Beauty is the common pursuit of mankind. Through its own efforts, BMW wants to bring the purest of art to ordinary audiences. Cooperating with teacher Yang, we are very glad to be at the top of this field in jointly promoting high-quality artistic works. We will continue to work in the areas of contemporary world-class art performance. At the same time, the launch of the elite art dialogue platform "BMW art salon" will allow more Chinese audiences to step into aesthetic world of masters and feel the beauty of art," Alice Mei, vice president of marketing at BMW Brilliance Automobile Ltd, said of their collaboration with such an important dancer.

Global Times