Event Pictures
Venue Pictures
ERA2 - Spirit Of Shanghai
@ Shanghai Circus World
Cosmic Tree
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Shanghai International Dance Center
1650 Hongqiao Lu, near Shuicheng Lu, Changning District
虹桥路1650号, 近水城路
Here’s one for fans of big, immersive stage spectacles. Cosmic Tree brings together star choreographer Da Zhu (Zhu Fengwei), legendary dance artist Yang Liping, and Academy Award–winning composer Tan Dun for a stunning ritual dance piece that blends modern movement, multimedia, and ancient Chinese cosmology. Think swirling lights, towering visuals, and primal choreography rooted in the idea that human life grows, breathes, and dies with the trees.
Cosmic Tree is an immersive ritual theatre piece that fuses primal life philosophy with contemporary sound, light, and visual design.
In the Basha Miao Village of Southwestern China, a tree is planted whenever a child is born. The tree grows alongside the person, and a century later, it becomes their coffin. A new sapling is then planted in the same place—completing a sacred cycle between human and tree.
The performance weaves the human essence of the “Tree of Life” with the divine imagery of the Sanxingdui Sacred Tree, an ancient symbol of connection between gods and mortals. Rooted in the Eastern cosmology of “Heaven, Earth, and Humanity,” the work reinterprets the tree’s structure—crown, trunk, and roots—as symbolic of these three realms. The tree becomes the axis of the stage: a vessel of life and a cosmic conduit linking heaven and earth.
In Cosmic Tree, the tree replaces humanity in this triad, embodying both the divine and the mortal. It stands as a metaphor for life’s unity—humans as trees, trees as humans—growing and transforming together.
Chapter One: Roots · Earth
The stage is layered with soft soil, where dancers move barefoot, blending modern dance and acrobatics. Human, animal, and plant forms intertwine like roots spreading through the earth.
Creatures inspired by The Classic of Mountains and Seas appear and vanish in rhythm with drumbeats echoing the heartbeat of the land. This chapter evokes the origin of life—its memory and renewal.
Chapter Two: Trunk · Humanity
Life stands upright. Through charged, physical movement, the dancers portray both human history and the tree’s own growth—tribal migration, conflict, and protection, as well as branches breaking and transforming into weapons. The performers embody both people and trees, exploring how life takes root in the earth and reaches for the sky.
Chapter Three: Canopy · Heaven
Above the canopy lies the realm of deities. Using stilts, masks, Nuoxi opera, and imagery of totems and the sun, the stage transforms into a mythic world of spirits, ancestors, and celestial light.
Immersive lighting and sound expand the ritual space, recreating the sacred dialogue between heaven and earth imagined by ancient Shu priests.
Chapter Four: The Cosmic Tree
Roots, trunk, and canopy merge into one form—stretching skyward while grounded in the earth. This is both the image of the tree and a majestic ode to human spirit.
Choreographer, director, and performer. A gold medalist at the 12th China Dance Lotus Awards, and award winner at the Hannover and Seoul International Dance Competitions. Former resident dancer at Beijing Modern Dance Company (2014–2017), touring across Germany, Canada, Egypt, and Croatia. Da Zhu has collaborated with renowned artists including Yang Liping, Shen Wei, Tim Yip, and He Xuntian, and has performed leading roles in Rite of Spring, Pingtan Imagery, and Under Siege at venues like Sadler’s Wells and the Melbourne Festival.
A legendary Chinese dancer, artistic director, and Vice President of the China Dancers Association. Known for her iconic Peacock Dance, Yang Liping gained international acclaim for Dynamic Yunnan and Echo of Yunnan, and is the first dancer from mainland China to perform in Taiwan. She has received numerous awards including the Lotus Award Gold Prize, Osaka International Arts Festival Highest Honor, and Phoenix TV’s “Chinese Influencing the World” Award.
UNESCO Global Goodwill Ambassador, Oscar- and Grammy-winning composer, and Dean of the Bard Conservatory of Music. His works span symphonic music, multimedia concertos, and film scores for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero. Known for his “Organic Music” series (Water Music, Paper Music, Earth Music), Tan Dun’s compositions have been performed worldwide and at major global events including the Beijing Olympics and Shanghai World Expo.
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