Ballet: A Sigh of Love has nothing to do with Wong Kar-Wei

This Shanghai-made ballet has little to do with the movie, except the same Chinese name. The two stories are different in stories, settings, and characters. The ballet playwright Cao Lu Sheng said: The movie is mostly about a love story, but the ballet will describe more about the 1930s-1940s’ Shanghai in its “isolated island” period. Half of the story is about the war, which is not in Li Bi Hua’s play. Besides, the song The Blossom Youth does not suit for the movie. … For a ballet, playwright is not the most important, choreography and stage designing are what counts most.

Jerome Kaplan said he had watched Wong Kar-Wei’s movie In the Mood For Love, and he had many inspirations from its scenes and characters. Although the ballet is not the same as the movie, the stage will show the characteristics of that time. For example, for the heroine’s cheongsam: “at the moment, I have designed five different styles of cheongsams for the heroine. Since she is a secretary, I have also designed a dress and a coat for her.”… (Noon News)

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