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SUMMER IMPRESSSIONS: Shanghai Grand Theatre Presents "Lady White Snake" at Lincoln Center
By Miranda Stuck
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Published on September 15, 2025
Wang Nianci and Su Hailu. Photo via Shanghai Grand Theatre
Shanghai Grand Theatre Presents Lady White Snake at Lincoln Center
Artistic Director: Tan YuanYuan
Director: Zhou Ke
Choreography: Wang Peixian
Musician: Xu Zhong
Dramaturgist: Luo Zhou
Set Designer: Gao Guangjian
Lighting & Projection Designer: Xiao Lihe
Video Designer: Feng Jiangzhou
Costume Designer: Viola Zhang
Special thanks to Edwaard Liang
Performers: Ao Dingwen, Liu Sirui, Song Yu, Su Hailu, Sun Jiayong, Tan Yimei, Wang Nianci, Wu Husheng with Shanghai Opera House Dance Ensemble
Robust in color, athleticism, and scenery Shanghai Grand Theatre presents Lady White Snake at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater with beauty and grace. Under the direction of Tan YuanYuan, the company's creative force extends their commitment to sharing Chinese culture through the melding of Western and Asian influences across a repertoire built to engage international audiences. Lady White Snake displays challenging choreography, beautiful prop work, intricate sets, and a dynamic sound score by Xu Zhong.
The two-act ballet’s seven scenes share the titular Chinese folktale through Wang Peixian’s engaging, forceful choreography. As the curtain opens, the dancers of the Shanghai Opera House Dance Ensemble appear in dark garments, bent over and rolling grocery carts across the stage. Amid this curious and compelling image, Liu Sirui appears as Lady White in silken white drapery, her presence almost majestic. The contrast in color, positioning, and presence between Sirui and the ensemble dancers further illuminates her presence as she whisks herself downstage.
At the center of Lady White Snake is the protagonist, Lady White, who unlocks duality in her subconscious to confront another version of herself. Siriu dances her initial identity, the white snake, while her subconscious, the green snake, is ultimately revealed through hypnotism. Radiating beauty, innocence, and an adolescent sense of curiosity, the green snake, known as Xiao Qing, is danced by Wang Nianci.
Among outstanding visual sets that emulate scenes of underwater oases, cosmic moonrise, and an ancient Chinese bell amid a bright red backdrop, Lady White Snake is made most compelling by the principal dancers’ technical and artistic abilities.
The story of Lady White Snake comes to life through a blend of athleticism and artistry. Su Hailu, who plays the psychologist Fa Hai, stuns as he swimmingly descends to the floor in milliseconds and whirls his legs, tracing through demanding sequences of quicksand floorwork and acrobatic jumps. While Hailu extends his port de bras in elegance, he rapidly revs up for ‘540’ jumps and aerials, defying gravity to captivate the audience. His solo begins with an eerie sound effect of simple metronome ticking that mirrors the hypnotic swing of his golden watch in front of Siriu’s eyes.
By contrast, Sirui is the epitome of grace, fluttering across the stage en pointe and extending into impressively poised extensions. Nianci, alluring and seductive, uses her limbs in cursive motion as she arches her back, snaking between twisted positions on the floor and on her feet. Nianci bends as if her spine and hips are made of cartilage and moves across the stage as if gliding on water or ice. While the cast of principal dancers each bring different attributes and personalities to their identity and role, their overarching artistic commitment and immense physical ability proves extremely impressive.
As the narrative of Lady White Snake takes twists and turns through moments of awakening, hypnosis, celebration, and betrayal, one moment is particularly striking. The video projection on the backdrop transitions to replicate water, moving fluidly with waves and bubbles, giving the illusion that all the dancers, who wave green and gold mesh fabric, are strands of seaweed or fish. The silken fabric moves as fluidly as the dancers, at times floating behind their bodies as if they were truly dancing in the ocean. When the dancers rush to change formation from a large, dispersed group to surround soloist Nianci, they display harmonious cohesion in movement, musicality, and rhythm. The image is straight out of an aquarium, except instead of fish, the water is filled with sculpted dancers in aquatic harmony.
Grounded in Chinese folktales and storytelling, Shanghai Grand Theatre brings exciting gymnastic elements to classical ballet which is uncommon yet exhilarating. The energy, tension, and emotional range presented onstage radiates to the last row of the theater.
