The staging of elaborate fight scenes during Kung Fu, David Henry Hwang’s stage play about the legendary Bruce Lee, remains a big challenge just days before Monday’s opening at the Signature Theater in New York.
The NY Times reports the choreographer is still struggling to find the delicate balance between realism and safety.
“I have to keep reminding myself in the fight scenes: ‘Think of it as dancing,’ ” star Cole Horibe said during a rehearsal break. “My father’s whole mentality for putting his children in martial arts was to learn how to defend ourselves, and he’d always tell us, ‘Imagine there’s a person there.’ When I’m doing these fights, the impulse is to really kick through the target, and a lot of times, I use too much force and I have to tell myself, ‘Relax, think of it as a dance move.’ ”
The staging is the work of choregrapher Sonya Tayeh, fight director Emanuel Brown and “Chinese opera movement specialist,” Jamie Guan.
You can get a closer look at some of the major fight scenes in Kung Fu in the NY Times.
