CSIAF to host upgraded version of immersive dance show

Shen Wei's immersive dance production Integrate will be one of the highlights of the new ARTRA program by the China Shanghai International Arts Festival. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Shen Wei's immersive dance production Integrate will be one of the highlights of the new ARTRA program by the China Shanghai International Arts Festival (CSIAF).

A new brand that CSIAF introduced this year, ARTRA provides an inter-disciplinary platform for artists to explore new possibilities for creativity, said Li Ming, president of the center for CSIAF.

Integrate, which will feature a combination of dance, paintings, films, sounds and installations, premiered in 2021. The new version will be shown at the West Bund Dome from Oct 1 to 20.

The main performance space will feature a system of hexagrams representing 64 existential situations. Audiences are invited to walk through the system and watch the 32 dancers in action from no more than an arm's length.

The new version will have a second-story area in which audiences can watch the entire performance from above.

The Relative Calm by Robert Wilson and Lucinda Childs. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Another project by ARTRA will be Relative Calm by Robert Wilson and Lucinda Childs. The show is a reinterpretation of two choreographies by Childs and will be accompanied by the music of John Adams and John Gibson. The show has been extended into a triptych with a new creation on the music of Pulcinella by Igor Stravinsky. Relative Calm will be shown at Shangyin Opera House from Nov 18 to 19.

ARTRA has also launched a new commissioned project titled When the Future Meets with the Past, which brings together visual artists, musicians, choreographers.

Ni Zhiqi, a visual artist, has created new installations for ARTRA in the office building of the center for CSIAF. Among these installations is a giant colorful balloon bird that shines at night.