Piercing the Veil of God, Revealing Human Nature
—Analyzing the Dance Drama “The Orphan of Zhao” from the Perspective of “People”

The Orphan of Zhao, presented by China National Opera and Dance Theater, is adapted from the Yuan Dynasty drama of the same name. Through the combination of dance and music, it shows the complex inner world and emotional changes of the characters. On the stage, the dancers convey the joys and sorrows of the characters through body language, allowing the audience to feel the emotional fluctuations of the characters more intuitively. In addition, on the basis of retaining the core story of the original work, the dance drama has made innovative adaptations to the relationships between the characters and the development of the plot, making the whole story more three-dimensional and richer. Through this art form, the dance drama The Orphan of Zhao not only tells an ancient story, but also explores the complexity of human nature and the boundaries of morality, triggering the audience’s deep reflection on themes such as loyalty, sacrifice, revenge and forgiveness. Different from the black-and-white, love-hate, decisive choice and close-to-God image creation in literary works, each character in the dance drama develops in contradictions and grows in painful choices. The characters are intertwined with each other, giving the audience more “human” thinking.