The music production “Legend of Huli” premiered in Toronto on January 20 and 21, 2024, with both shows sold out at Meridian Arts Centre. Emotions were still running high as the stage curtain closed behind the performers. It was an original production, created by these very people on stage, and it was a success.
Now that a few months passed since, and and all the show images can be made public, let us relive some of the memories of its creation. The story of the show is as exciting as the show itself.
The Fox, the Guitar, and the Dance
As Roman Smirnov, the composer, and creator of the idea of the show recalls, the concept came from a book by the Chinese philosopher Pu Songling picked up from a shelf of a second-hand bookstore during his visit to Estonia. It was a collection of ancient legends of a Celestial Fox, meticulously recorded by the great man.
The Fox was just too magnificent of a character to look away - cunning, sweet, charming, treacherous, and unavoidably fatal for those who toy with its power. In the modern lore, one might call her a shapeshifter. This image started to transform into music and was haunting Roman for some time. It was becoming real. The concept of dance followed naturally. The fox had to be on stage.
“Legend of Huli”, take one.
The first version of the show looked very ascetic - an unexpected trio of guitar (Roman Smirnov), pipa (Wen Zhao), and oud (Demetrios Petsalakis), and just one dancer (David Giller), the Celestial Fox mischievously surprising the audience with incredibly skillful performance.
The show was received well in Toronto and toured in Estonia. It was exotic, it was an unusual mix of instruments, the fox was unpredictable… And this is what the audience loved about it. It was already neither a trio performance nor a concert, and not a show just yet.
The Fox Returns
Back in Toronto, after his European tour Roman doesn't settle for the safe success of the past show. The cunning fox circles back in. He edits the music, and changes the instruments - this time it is guitar, pipa, and cello. Zhenya Kobylyanska, an extraordinary cellist has joined the trio this time.
Roman felt like the live musicians on stage were not just enough, the music needed visualization, and the dance concept was asking for more action to add more distinct visual lines to the performance.
“We have a show on our hands”, he called Nina Zaslavsky, the show producer. Nina knew just the right person to ask for help finalizing the vision. With the music sheets and video materials from the first edition of the show, they were off to Montreal where Alexandre Marine, the renowned theater director lives. The fox did not let down.
Alexandre did see the story in it. It was a story of tragic love and the meddling cunning Celestial Fox that made a cruel deal with the unsuspecting young girl. The script was ready, in what seemed like a blink of an eye. But the story had to be told in the language of dance now as well.
The Fox Dance Moves
The masterful choreography by Roman Nesterov took the show to the next level of expression adding an intricate story interpretation told in the language of dance. The touching romance brought to a tragic end by the deceipt of the cold-hearted fox proved to be the perfect visual storyline for the music.
As the music itself is a whimsical fusion of East and West with elements of jazz, and flamenco, the choreography incorporated elements from modern ballet to signature Chinese dance and martial arts. It all came together with an incredible passion and strength.
The Future Adventures of the Fox
Looking back at the production, the whole adventure of its creation, and its success, we, as a team, often ask ourselves - will the Fox appear on the new stages, or will it venture off on a national (international) tour?
If you have seen one of our “Legend of Huli” shows, drop us a line to let us know what you think.
The official website of the show Legend of Huli
The Show cast:
NINA ZASLAVSKY, Producer
ROMAN SMIRNOV, Artistic Director, Composer, Instrumentalist (Guitar)
ALEXANDRE MARINE, Director
NINA SHAPILSKY, Music Consulant
ROMAN NESTEROV, Choreographer
NSTRUMENTALISTS:
Wen Zao, pipa
Zhenya Kobylyanska, cello
Roman Smirnov, guitar
DANCERS:
Roman Nesterov
Karolyna Nesterova
Hayley Ng
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