Review: MULAN: A LEGEND REIMAGINED at Capital One Hall

Saturday evening’s performance of Mulan: A Legend Reimagined at Capital One Hall was a ninety-minute retelling of the classic Chinese folk story of the young woman who impersonates a soldier and ends up successfully defending her country. This dance-based version presented by Greater Washington Chinese Dance featured young dancers from Xuejuan Dance Ensemble and Rong’s Kungfu Academy. 

While the dancers sparkled at times, overall the piece begged for a dramaturg to edit it for length and clarity. It felt like it was designed more as a recital piece to show off each class of dancers, no matter how amateur, rather than a compelling story told through dance. 

It has been said about Isadora Duncan’s dances that the flowing dresses and scarves thrown about made up at least half of the choreography. Here, fans, scarves, draping sleeves, a cape and even fans with scarves all played key supporting roles. The costumes to be fair were stunning - richly-colored silks that hung in the air for a moment with each sweep of the arm. I also loved the black fighter costumes with peplum tops that brought a Dior New Look vibe. But for a story about war, an awful lot of time was spent showcasing pretty - and pretty pointless - arm gestures designed to show off the costumes. 

The music and lighting cues were also woefully under-rehearsed. I started counting a few sections in and got to over 7 minutes of total wait time between sections, sitting in half-light before any movement, music or lighting change would begin. Each section ended with a blackout, but it didn’t need to. At times a narrator provided voiceover commentary which matched the program notes and did not add much. 

Olivia Xia, the dancer who played Mulan, demonstrated a good dynamic range; her sword dances as a soldier were differentiated from her lyrical passages. I wish we saw more of her and less of the needless egrets, memories and numerous other atmospheric dances that added only length to the story. 

Runtime: 95 minutes with one intermission

Photo: Courtesy of Xuejuan Dance Ensemble