CHINESE dancer and choreographer Wang Yabin will unveil the turbulent undercurrents beneath a peaceful life in her dance drama “The Lady From the Sea” at Pingshan Theater this Sunday.

The production, directed by Wang, is based on a namesake play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen in 1888. It looks into a woman’s love, desires, confusion, struggles, and self-awakening.

The dance follows the story of Ellida, daughter of a lighthouse keeper, who has to decide whether to stay on land with her husband, a successful doctor, or leave her stable life behind for a sailor she loves.

The dance drama shows Ellida’s inner conflicts and complex emotions via modern and traditional Chinese dance movements. Wang said she added two imaginary characters such as the dead wife and seawater in the adaptation, so Ellida’s inner world can be better presented.

Norwegian pianist and composer Ketil Bjørnstad and young Chinese composer Zhang Xiaochen created music for the dance. The play also draws inspiration from the Scandinavian ballad “Agnete and the Merman.” In the ballad, a merman woos a human woman, persuading her to leave her children and live with him under the sea.

Wang, a Tianjin native, is a graduate of the Beijing Dance Academy and is best known for a dance sequence in Zhang Yimou’s 2004 movie “House of Flying Daggers.”

Since 2009, Wang has brought together dancers from around the world to take part in her dance series, “Yabin and Her Friends.” Among the international artists she has worked with include Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, choreographer Elizabeth Roxas-Dobrish, and Japanese choreographer Shintaro Hirahara.

Time: 3 p.m., March 3

Booking: WeChat account “PingShanTheatre”

Venue: Pingshan Theater, Pingshan District (坪山大剧院)

Metro: Line 14 to Pingshan Square Station (坪山广场站), Exit D1

(SD News)