Monday, October 10, 2011

Review: Shaolin Warriors

Directed by Li Xining
Choreography by Su Dongmei and Li Chi
Composed by Liu Junke
Set Design by Chen Juan
Lighting design by Yang Weidong
Costume design by Jiang Xiaoming
Burswood Theatre
October 7/8, 2011

There’s been a monastery at Shaolin since the 5th Century AD, and records of the monks in combat date from the 7th Century. By the 16th Century, kung fu was an integral and famous part of Shaolin monastic life, exported throughout China and into Japan, Korea and Okinawa.
Shaolin kung fu has become a secular phenomena up there with the Cirque du Soleil franchise, the Blue Men and the various Celtic hoofers and Dutch fiddlers of present renown. 
These performers, most from poor rural communities in Shandong and Henan provinces, may not be monks, but they are brought up and live like them, spending long days from very early ages training and mastering their art. Indeed, this production’s story of a boy’s journey from initiation to full warrior status features two lads who couldn’t be more than eleven or twelve but could only have achieved their staggering strength and supple skill after many years of training.


Link here to the complete review in The West Australian

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