Guangzhou Ballet will perform Carmina Burana along with Goddess of the Luo River at Lincoln Center (photo courtesy Guangzhou Ballet)
David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
20 Lincoln Center Plaza
August 17, 8:00, and August 18, 1:00, $50-$150
davidhkochtheater.com
Founded by former National Ballet of China dancer Zhang Dandan in 1993, Guangzhou Ballet is a classical ballet company that tours the world with lavish productions. On August 17-18, the troupe will be at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center with a pair of ballets, presented by China Arts and Entertainment Group Ltd. Choreographed by Jiang Qi, Carmina Burana, or “Songs from Benediktbeuern,” is based on German composer Carl Orff’s 1935-36 cantata, itself based on the medieval Latin poetry collection that dates back nearly a thousand years; the troupe melds poetry, dramatic text, Western music, and ballet in the work. Goddess of the Luo River is a nearly two-thousand-year-old legend about a mortal poet who falls in love with a river goddess; Guangzhou Ballet tells the story using Peter Quanz’s recomposed score based on Du Mingxin’s violin concerto.