Only This Green is a dance-poetry production inspired by the famous Chinese painting A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains. Through choreography and stage design, the work transforms the imagery of the scroll into a moving landscape on stage. The production returns to Shanghai at the Bank of Communications Qiantan 31 Performing Arts Center.

About the Performance

Only This Green is a dance-poetry production inspired by A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains, one of the most well-known landscape paintings in Chinese art. The production reimagines the visual world of the painting through choreography and stage imagery, transforming mountains, rivers, and natural scenery into movement on stage.

The story is told through the perspective of a modern Palace Museum researcher known as the “scroll unroller.” As the researcher studies the painting, the narrative moves between the present day and the moment a thousand years earlier when the young painter Wang Ximeng was completing A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains. Through this structure, the production explores the connection between the historical artist and modern viewers.

On stage, the production creates layered visual imagery: a bright moon illuminating the scene as the scroll unroller meets Wang Ximeng across time. Modern museum researchers and historical artisans appear together in the narrative, forming a human landscape connected by cultural heritage.

Event Structure

The production unfolds through a series of chapters:

• Unrolling the Scroll
• Reading the Seal Script
• Singing the Silk
• Searching for Stone
• Practicing the Brush
• Tempering Ink
• Entering the Painting

Why Go

This production presents a stage interpretation of A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains through dance and theatrical design. Audiences can experience a contemporary performance inspired by a well-known work of Chinese visual art.

Seating Plan