A Mere Touch of Green

"A Mere Touch of Green” is a poetic dance drama divided into seven chapters, including “Scroll Unfolding”, “Seal Tracing”, “Silk Reeling”, “Stone Searching”, “Brush Making”, “Ink Grinding” and “Into the Painting”. The audience will follow a research fellow of the Palace Museum to gain the first-person perspective of unfolding a beautiful scroll, and wander in the legendary aesthetic pleasures of traditional Chinese art.

The poetic dance drama “A Mere Touch of Green” employs a narrative structure of multiple time-spaces crossing over with one another. The story begins simultaneously at two overlapping moments in time: the historical moment when the young Meng Xi was finishing his painting, and the contemporary moment when “A Panorama of Mountains and Rivers” is about to be exhibited. The scroll keeper (whose point of view is shared by the audience) steps into Xi Meng’s mind as he studies the painting diligently, and accompanies Xi Meng through the entire process of creating this legendary piece of art. As such the obscure artist and the fascinated beholder become kindred spirits, and together they explore the entangled contingencies and inevitabilities of the painting’s unique place in Chinese history and recognize the emotional ties between ancient artefacts and our modern conditions.

On stage a multi-layered scene will be presented like a painting. Under the bright moon that has shone for thousands of years, the scroll keeper and Xi Meng stare into each other’s eyes. The diligent researchers and cultural workers at the Palace Museum, together with the indefatigable craftspeople of ancient China, form a humanistic picture with a blend of affective and scenic depictions.

The media exposure of "A Mere Touch of Green" has reached 10 billion, with over 5,000 official media reports, 5 appearances on CCTV's "News Broadcast", more than 10 Weibo hits, over 2.9 billion reads and 900,000 discussions on Weibo. At the same time, it appeared on well-known programs such as CCTV "Spring Festival Gala".

The creative team of “A Mere Touch of Green” represents many of the best stage artists currently active in China. Zhou Liya and Han Zhen, the outstanding young choreographers of China Oriental Performing Arts Group, whose works have won the "Wenhua Award" four times in a row and are known as the "twin stars of the Chinese dance world", are co-directing the production. China Oriental Performing Arts Group represented the highest achievements in music and dance in China.