[photo credit: The Huntington]
The public program runs from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Rothenberg Hall, with a 20-minute contemporary staging of the 1739 divertissement, introduced by choreographer Phil Chan and producer Meredith S. Martin and followed by a Q&A with the ensemble.
From 2020 to 2022, Chan and Martin worked with an all-Asian American creative team to reimagine this fragmented Baroque work.
In their version, the Chinese sorcerer becomes a porcelain-sick European collector inspired by Augustus the Strong of Saxony, while the prince and princess are recast as Chinese nobles “fighting for each other.”
For Chan, co-founder of advocacy group Final Bow for Yellowface, the shift is crucial: “Instead of the ballet becoming an allegory for the technological and cultural conquest of China, it becomes an expression of people of Asian descent yearning to be viewed as more than just cute figurines, ornamental drones devoid of personality or nuance. A story about breaking free from stereotypes.”
“Ballet des Porcelaines” will run on Friday, Jan. 30, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Rothenberg Hall at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. For more call 626-405-2100 or visit Thttps://www.huntington.org/event/public-program-ballet-des-porcelaines. Tickets: $10.
