'Dagger Society' Brings Shanghai's History to the Stage

Shanghai Opera House's dance drama "Dagger Society" will return to stage during the 25th China Shanghai International Arts Festival.

The work is based on the 1853 Shanghai Dagger Society uprising. Set against the Taiping Rebellion, it depicts modern Chinese resistance to imperialist and feudal rule.

Drawing on the chapter-based narrative style of classical Chinese novels, the work unfolds in seven scenes, with the dramatic conflict escalating layer by layer.

By combining Chinese classical dance with martial arts sequences from traditional Chinese opera, the work has created classic Chinese dance passages. Shang Yi's distinctive national-style music composed for the work has been used in many films and TV productions.

In the 1960s, the dance drama toured to the former Soviet Union, Poland and North Korea for international cultural exchanges.

In 1997, the production was revived to mark Hong Kong's return to China. This year's revival is intended to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of Shanghai Opera House.

The new version retains all the core melodies of the original. Sun Chang, a composer from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, served as arranger, increasing the proportion of symphonic parts.

The new creative team hopes to integrate contemporary stage quality while preserving the spiritual core of the original work's heroic narrative.

If you go

Dates: October 30-31, 7:30pm; November 1, 2pm

Tickets: 80-580 yuan

Venue: Majestic Theater 美琪大戏院

Address: 66 Jiangning Rd 江宁路66号