© Peter Serling, 2003 Choreographer Shen Wei commissioned David Lang to create a score for his latest work Re- (I, II, III), an investigation of divergent societies that puts on display the choreographer’s inimitable East-meets-West dance vocabulary. Lang collarboated with experimental violinist Todd Reynolds (of ETHEL fame) to create an original soundscape integrating a score for violin, laptop, and Shen Wei’s ‘found material’ (recorded voices, folk music, environmental sound, etc.) from the Silk Road.



Shen Wei created this three-part work based on his travels to Tibet, the Angkor Wat temple complex in Cambodia and China’s Silk Road. He titled the triptych “Re-“ to suggest rebirth and renewal. The three sections are: an updated version of his captivating Re- I (Tibet), Re- II (Angkor Wat), and Re- III (New Silk Road), a piece that reflects his journey to China and back The world premiere took place in June at the American Dance Festival in North Carolina and the Lincoln Center Festival features the New York premiere performances this month. These 2009 performances are the first-ever showing of all three parts in one evening, and the world premiere of Part III. Inspired by Shen Wei’s 2008 journeys between a hyper-modern Beijing and China’s old Silk Road, Part III integrates images and textures from the old Silk Road with a present-day Beijing to create a bracing vision of a “new” China.