French composer completes 53-year quest to create a musical dance drama of classic Chinese novel, Chen Nan reports.
French composer Laurent Petitgirard conducts the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra Budapest during the recording of the symphonic piece Journey to the West in the Hungarian capital in 2021. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
In 1966, for his 16th birthday, French composer Laurent Petitgirard's elder brother gave him a copy of the classic Chinese novel, Journey to the West. Petitgirard was fascinated. He read the novel over and over again, sparking the idea of putting it into music, a quest that took him 53 years to embark upon.
"No doubt because I had to complete my journey as a composer before venturing into creating the music to accompany the odyssey of the monk, Xuanzang," says Petitgirard, 73, who was born in Paris, and studied piano and composition as a child.
My goal was to write music for a dance expressing the poetry of the original text and conveying the spiritual elevation achieved by facing the ordeals depicted.
Laurent Petitgirard, French composer
Journey to the West, by Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) writer Wu Cheng'en, follows the adventures of the aforementioned Tang Dynasty (618-907) monk and his three disciples — the animal spirits Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing — on their journey to obtain Buddhist scriptures.
In early 2019, after he met Chinese dancer-choreographer Wang Yabin in Paris, Petitgirard decided to wait no longer and started to compose.
International collaborations have been a driving force in the Yabin and Her Friends project, which Wang initiated in 2009.For example, she collaborated with choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui from Belgium on Genesis in 2013; and with choreographer Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater on Dream in Three Episodes.
Petitgirard watched Wang's Genesis on television and, after watching Wang's choreographic work, Swan — A Different Story, in Lucerne, Switzerland, he says: "It was for me the confirmation that Yabin is a major choreographer and a first-class artist."
(From left) Petitgirard, dancer-choreographer Wang Yabin and Dong Qiang, renowned scholar, translator and dean of the Yenching Academy of Peking University. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
By working with Petitgirard, Wang choreographed a dance piece, titled Journey to the West. As the 14th edition of the Yabin and Her Friends project, the dance piece will be premiered in Wang's hometown, Tianjin, on Friday.
"I was impressed by his (Petitgirard's) idea, and we soon decided to work together," recalls Wang, adding that Dong Qiang, a renowned scholar and translator, who is the dean of the Yenching Academy of Peking University and the chair of the French department of the School of Foreign Languages of Peking University, introduced her to Petitgirard. Dong serves as the literature consultant in the dance project.
"I grew up reading Journey to the West and watching the cartoon and TV drama adapted from the classic novel. Many Chinese people are familiar with the story, but it really intrigued me how a foreign reader would interpret the story," says Wang.
"My goal was to write music for a dance expressing the poetry of the original text and conveying the spiritual elevation achieved by facing the ordeals depicted," says Petitgirard. "The French composer begs indulgence for being so bold as to take on such a monument of Chinese literature."
Dancer Liu Xihui plays Princess Iron Fan in the dance drama. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
The 85-minute symphonic music piece consists of three parts. In the first part, the composer starts with a piece titled Xuanzang Has a Dream and Sets Off on His Journey, and portrays his disciples with more pieces, such as Sun Wukong Is Saved, Winning Over Zhu Wuneng — Zhu Bajie and Winning Over Sha Wujing — Monk Sha. He also depicted the character Guanyin, the bodhisattva, who is a goddess of mercy in the novel.
"Of course, Sun Wukong, the rebel, is fascinating, maybe more than Xuanzang, who is perfect. But don't forget Guanyin, the goddess, she is always present to help. Yabin is my Guanyin," says the composer, adding that there are five percussionists in the orchestra, and he chose to use Chinese cymbals.
"After this work, based on the fabulous book, I feel a little bit Chinese myself," adds Petitgirard, who has worked with Chinese composer Chen Qigang as a conductor.
Petitgirard himself traveled to Hungary and took up the baton to conduct the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra Budapest in recording Journey to the West in October 2021.
"I listened to the piece, which is full of imagination. When I started to choreograph, I tried to capture the spirit of the novel by telling the story through the eyes of Sun Wukong. Though it's a classic novel, the dance piece is contemporary," says Wang, adding that she used elements of martial arts and traditional Chinese operas in her choreography.
Dancer Niu Dongyan portrays the Monkey King. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Jingubang, or the golden cudgel, is the Monkey King's magic weapon. He is able to manipulate its size, making it so small that he can keep it in his ear, or as big and long as he needs to defeat an enemy. In the dance piece, Niu Dongyan, who plays the role of Sun Wukong, performs with a wooden stick, which resembles the Monkey King's golden cudgel.
Wang started to dance as a child, and her talent was recognized at 9 years old when she was enrolled to study at the Beijing Dance Academy, where she received training in classical Chinese dance, ballet and contemporary dance. She has won national dance competitions, including a first prize at the seventh Taoli Cup National Dancing Competition in 2003, the year she graduated from Beijing Dance Academy and started teaching at the university. She is still a member of the Youth Dance Company of the Beijing Dance Academy.
Following its premiere in Tianjin, Journey to the West will be staged at the Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center with five shows in August. The composer will also come to watch the dance piece in Beijing.
Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn
