Dream at Tai Lake

Director: Jing Liang
Dance Choreographer: Kim La
Carol Sung as Lord Faan Lai
Kim La as Xi Shi
Judy Ma as the Boatman
Dancers: Jamie Ma, Michelle Zheng, Christine Luk, and Mandy Kwan

SYNOPSIS: This is about a handsome lord dreaming of his love whom he gave up to save his country.

BACKGROUND: Xi Shi was one of the 4 famous beauties in Chinese history. Legend has it that she was so beautiful that her reflection in the brook, where she washed clothes for a living, so enchanted the fishes that they forgot to swim and sank to the bottom. During the Warring Period, the Yut Kingdom was defeated by the Ng Kingdom, and the King of Yut, Ngau-chin, was held hostage. The people of Yut devised a plan of offering beautiful woman to the King of Ng to distract him from affairs of state. The handsome lord, Faan Lai, who was assigned the task of searching for beauties in his land, found Xi Shi and promptly fell in love with her. Xi Shi was offered to the King of Ng, and successfully distracted him, and the people of Yut regained their land. After years of separation, Faan Lai and Xi Shi met at the beautiful Tai Lake and again professed their mutual love. This story is presented as a dream by the love-sick Faan Lai. History has no record of these two getting together later in life.