<\/p>\n
by Ken Smith<\/p>\n
<\/strong>Back before the Olympic madness in Beijing and my full immersion in The Bonesetter\u2019s Daughter<\/em> in San Francisco, I put out word for anyone to help explain what precisely was being premiered in the \u201cglobal premiere\u201d of Tan Dun\u2019s <\/span>Tea<\/em> at Beijing\u2019s National Centre for the Performing Arts. I\u2019ve just recently noticed that the director Chiang Ching herself has addressed her production at length in the September issue of Ming Pao Monthly; her account of bringing <\/span>Tea<\/em> to China shows how ugly the performance climate there can still be.<\/span><\/p>\n In a five-page article, Chiang tells the highbrow Hong Kong journal that her frustrations with the production last July began when the Department of Commerce decided that her name \u2013 precisely the same characters as the infamous Madame Mao \u2013 was deemed too sensitive to use during the Olympic season. \u201cIn 1987 I was invited on an eight-city modern-dance tour of China,\u201d the choreographer-turned-director writes. \u201cNo presenters told me I needed to change my name. But 21 years after [China\u2019s] reform the right to use my own name was taken away.\u201d<\/p>\n A few weeks later, she discovered that representatives from the Ministry of Culture had attended rehearsals unannounced. The Beijing production, which she admits was \u201clargely based\u201d on the version premiered in Stockholm in November 2007, was deemed \u201cpornographic and unsuitable\u201d for the public stage in China. Though nothing was put in writing, the Ministry did uncharacteristically explain its reasons: (1) \u201cwhen the male and female characters are hugging in the second act, you cannot have light on them,\u201d and (2) \u201cthey cannot be shown later rolling on the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n Then came the projections. Chiang\u2019s original concept in Stockholm featured a series of childlike sketches by the artist Ding Xiongquan portraying animals mating projected on bolts of white silk while dancers paraded around them. In Beijing, Chiang got a late-night phone call telling her that she had to \u201cremove the mammals.\u201d The next day the Ministry cleared the revised projections, but told her that the dancers and the silk were still \u201cunclean.\u201d The images ended up being projected on the back wall.<\/p>\n At each step of the way, Chiang kept asking to have the Ministry\u2019s demands put in writing, or to speak to the leaders directly. Neither request was granted. \u201cPeople would only say, \u2018I understand your situation, but I can\u2019t help you,\u2019\u201d she writes. \u201cThey would say, \u2018The Olympics is a special time. We cannot have a single wrong.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n From a safe distance at Sweden, Chiang ponders the past year in China: \u201cIs this what is happening to the country? Is this the current climate?\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n