Promoters often market their wares liberally, casting various productions as the “best yet” or “most thrilling in history.”
But when promoters of “Heartbeat” bill theirs as “the most lavish and spectacular percussion dance show ever produced,” they might just be right.
The production, which falls under the ultra-specific genre of action musical, tells the history of Chinese culture through athletic dancing, martial arts and percussive feats. Sixty dancers and more than 400 costumes combine to create an audiovisual spectacle.
“Very seldom do you see a Broadway or Las Vegas-scope kind of dance show like this,” said producer-director Dennis Law. “Few shows use Chinese artistic authenticity as a background, and this show demonstrates extravagant movement against a background of traditionalism.”
When “Heartbeat” opens a four-show stint at the Buell Theatre on Wednesday, it will celebrate more than 100 shows, having toured worldwide since opening in August 2005.
Producer-director Law is a longtime Denver resident, retired surgeon and tireless supporter of the arts, having sat on the boards of Colorado Ballet, Opera Colorado and other cultural institutions. When he came to the U.S. from Hong Kong in 1965 as a young medical student, he was immediately – and understandably – taken aback by the cultural differences.
Since, he has eschewed supporting political or religious organizations in favor of the arts, as the latter’s universal appeal seemed better at fostering cultural understanding than more-divisive causes.
Since jumping into the entertainment world he has created a new breed of action musical shows like “Terracotta Warriors” and “Tang Concubines” with his co-producer wife Moon Lee Law. “Heartbeat” is the latest of these flamboyant endeavors, shepherding audiences through 2,000 years of Chinese history without resorting to overt narrative.
It’s something entirely different than most Americans are used to seeing, Law said.
“Six years ago I saw the final exams at Beijing Dance Academy and I was flabbergasted. I had never seen dancing like this,” he said. “In all my dance dramas we use authentic Chinese classical and folk dance. Dance critics keep interpreting what we do as ballet, but there’s absolutely no ballet in it. Chinese dance preceded historical European ballet.”
Without a forced narrative or easy reference point, Law hopes audiences will feel entranced instead of lectured to. Tibetan tap dance and martial arts thread through references to Chinese dynasties (including Tang, Yuan, Ming and Qing) and time periods from the Bronze Age to the present. The drum-based pit musicians parallel the thumping human heart with their tireless performance.
“The show is a potpourri and is mostly symbolic,” said choreographer Jonathan Feng Han through a translator. “Using very folkloric themes to create elements of energy and humor for an American audience is more meaningful.”
Feng, a national Class 1 dancer in China, stepped aside as lead dancer in “Heartbeat” when he injured his Achilles tendon during a performance, but he still oversees “Heartbeat’s” performers. He said the response the show has garnered in the Western world versus China demonstrates stark cultural differences.
“Chinese audiences are generally very cold. They don’t care for Chinese product in China because they want to search for foreign things,” he said. “(I) was overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of Caucasian audiences, because they feel there is a mystery to exotic things. Here the dancers greet the audience in the lobby and (we) get mobbed like pop singers.”
Finding a balance of content and presentation in “Heartbeat” gives Law faith that even seemingly opposite cultures can connect at a visceral level.
“It’s easy to look at everything in the world and say it’s derivative of Hollywood,” he said. “‘Heartbeat’ is not derivative of anything except the concept that people like intense entertainment in which things are nonstop.”
Staff writer John Wenzel can be reached at 303-954-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com.
“Heartbeat”
ACTION MUSICAL|Buell Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 1101 13th St.; $20-$75, 8 p.m. Wednesday-March 2, 2 p.m. March 3, 8 p.m. March 3|$20-$75| 303-893-4100 or denvercenter.org.
