By Veronica Y. Gonzalez
The Shanghai Ballet Company is the state ballet company for Shanghai. They perform a blend of traditional and Western dance styles. The Shanghai Ballet presented The Butterfly Lovers on January 29, 2020 at The Krannert Center For Performing Arts. This is a story about two lovers that have to overcome obstacles to be together.
I attended The Butterfly Lovers performed by the Shanghai Ballet Company. I had never gone to a ballet performance before so I was very excited entering the theater. This performance exceeded all my expectations so I am glad that this was my first ballet experience. My favorite element was the beautiful costumes. In the second image above you can see some pieces that the performers wore. In the top right corner you can vaguely see the green butterfly costumes. My favorite costume from this performance had to be the purple butterflies in the final act. The costumes were a vibrant shade of purple and covered in glitter. Purple is my favorite color and I love glitter so obviously these costumes caught my eye automatically.
My favorite act was definitely the final act. It was the most visually pleasing act for me since all the different colored butterflies, the magpies, and the Mandarin ducks came together on stage. Not a single color from the rainbow was missing on stage. Aside from it being the most colorful act, it was my favorite part of the plot. It was devastating to see that Zhu Yingtai lost the love of her life, Liang Shanbo so seeing them end up together as butterflies fixed my broken heart. The writers chose an excellent way to end this love story.
Movement was used to exhibit emotion by changing the speed or position of the dancer. To show anger, they used fast-paced, sharp movements. They used funny movements to show humor, such as when Ma Wencai was making his classmates trip the old teacher. To show love, they used slow movements and danced together. To show sadness, it was similar to when they showed the love emotions but the dancers would have their heads down while dancing slowly.