When the chants of the Jialing River and the waves of the Huangpu River meet here, when the character of Bayu and the charm of the Shanghai style embrace each other affectionately in the light and shadow, a toe epic about "return" is being staged in Shanghai. From April 3rd to 4th, Chongqing Ballet will bring its original ballet "The Return of Red Lingyan" to the Shanghai International Dance Center Grand Theater, marking the first stop of the show's 2026 national tour. This work with the theme of "Red Memory" will follow the historical context of the Anti-Japanese War in the Yangtze River Basin and visit Taizhou, Wuxi, Wuhan, Changsha and other cities that have left a strong mark on the history of the Anti-Japanese War.
Between the ups and downs of the toe, the soul of the mountain city is returning.
"Return of Red Lingyan" is based on Dai Ailian, a pioneer of Chinese contemporary dance art. It tells the touching story of "Lian", an artist who returned from overseas, who devoted herself to resisting Japan and saving the nation, raising children affected by the war, and protecting the national cultural heritage in war-torn Chongqing. On the stage, the brutal bombing ripped through the smoke of war, the mystery of Zhou Mansion revealed the dim light of the dark night, and the figure of the people dragging the plane engraved the unyielding backbone… Each scene restored the flesh and blood and character of Chongqing during the war with a movie-like texture. The artistic expression that combines Chinese and Western elements allows the audience to understand those turbulent years and feel the profound power from the mountain city.
Above the toes is the backbone that never bent in the flames of war; the return of Hongling is the faith that remains hot even through time and space. Since its premiere in August 2023, "Return of Red Lingyan" has attracted much attention. It has launched two rounds of national tours, covering 13 provinces and 25 cities, and has completed a total of 109 performances. The first stop of the new tour in 2026 has become popular even before the performance. The topic "Come to Shanghai to watch the ballet in April and return to Honglingyan" has become a hot search on Weibo. The cumulative reading volume has exceeded 8 million, and the city's expectations continue to heat up.
Episodes of the war past are reawakened on the tiptoe. On the evening of March 31, the dance drama’s chief director Liu Jun and the actors walked into Shanghai University of International Business and Economics and gave a lively art sharing session. The students not only listened to the stories behind the creation of the dance drama, but also experienced the unique charm of ballet under the guidance of the actors. Bayu elements such as the oil-paper umbrellas in the rain lanes of the mountain city and the outline of the stilted buildings allow everyone to truly touch the artistic heritage of Chongqing. On April 1, a pre-performance guided tour was held in the theater, where the creative team communicated closely with the audience and shared more exciting stories on and off the stage.
"Ballet is not a Western patent. We have injected Chinese aesthetics and stories into it." Liu Jun said that just like Dai Ailian originally integrated Chinese folk dances into ballet art, "The Return of Honglingyan" also creatively combines Western ballet with Xiushan lanterns, Miao dance, Tibetan dance, etc. When ballet embraces the flames of war, this "return" is not only the return of art, but also an affectionate retelling of national memory.
