Myths move us not only because they are ancient, but because their characters feel alive.
Beyond live music, animation, and lighting, Chang’e Flies to the Moon also shines through dance and movement—bringing Chang’e, Hou Yi, the Queen Mother, and the Jade Rabbit to life as vivid, breathing stage characters.
Each Role · Each Soul
LEGENDS Artistic Director Jiangli Yu says Chang’e Flies to the Moon blends modern and traditional Chinese dance with jazz, ballet, and Latin elements—not just for beauty, but to reveal character, time, and emotion.
Hou Yi’s movements draw on modern Chinese dance, showing strength, speed, and heroic power.
His steps, turns, bow-draws, and leaps reveal a hero rising amid a cosmic crisis.
Chang’e and the Queen Mother carry the grace of traditional Chinese dance.
Chang’e is gentle and pure, like a figure from a classical painting; the Queen Mother is majestic, sacred, and mysterious.
Yu says dance is hardest when the body must speak emotion.
Music reaches the ear, visuals reach the eye, and dance completes the feeling—letting audiences read love, farewell, longing, and reunion through movement.
Powerful Hou Yi · Luminous Chang’e
This production features a professional dancer as Hou Yi, bringing strong training in dance, martial arts, gymnastics, and street dance to blend flips, leaps, combat moves, and emotion into the role.
Jiangli Yu hopes “Hou Yi Shoots the Suns” will reveal his strength, courage, and tenderness through drums, group dance, and solo movement.
At center stage, he moves like an arrow and stands like a mountain.
Chang’e is shown in layers, through both ground dance and aerial flight.
On earth, she is gentle and kind; in the air, she rises toward the Moon Palace, crossing from love into destiny.
Chang’e is more than a figure flying to the moon. She is a woman shaped by love, choice, and fate.
The softer her dance, the deeper the farewell.
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Celestial Grace · Moonlit Poetry
The Queen Mother’s role was expanded after the team saw how perfectly the dancer’s presence and grace fit the character.
In “The Queen Mother Grants the Elixir,” she reveals heaven’s mystery through dance, animation, staging, and light—not through words.
The Jade Rabbit became a surprise highlight. Yu says the team added it because many audiences naturally connect Chang’e with the moon and the rabbit.
The Jade Rabbit adds charm, energy, and childlike wonder to the stage.
More than Chang’e’s companion, it becomes an emotional bridge for children and audiences.
Timeless Dance · Heartfelt Emotion
Jiangli Yu says the choreography carries the myth across time, showing how Chang’e still lives today in Mid-Autumn memories of moonlight, mooncakes, and reunion.
In the final scene, “Mid-Autumn Reunion,” costumes and dance move from ancient robes and qipao to modern dress, showing how a thousand-year legend continues in Chinese families today.
Folk dances add jazz and modern rhythms, while water spirits and ensemble scenes draw on ballet.
The result blends Eastern elegance with the speed and energy of contemporary theater.
Yu says dance is the body’s language. Even without knowing the full myth, audiences can feel Hou Yi’s resolve, Chang’e’s tenderness, the Queen Mother’s majesty, the Jade Rabbit’s charm, and the people’s hope for reunion.
That is what makes Chang’e Flies to the Moon so moving.
Dance does not simply support the music; it gives the myth human warmth through every turn, gaze, and flight.
On May 30 at 7 p.m., Chang’e Flies to the Moon will unfold at Segerstrom Hall as an Eastern stage poem shaped by dance and emotion.
In moonlight, drums, painted scrolls, and aerial flight, Chang’e and Hou Yi will be seen—and felt—again.
Families are warmly invited to attend.
On May 30, Chang’e Flies to the Moon will bring the myth back to life at Segerstrom Hall—and leave audiences moved.
Tickets: www.sccca.org/legends
Date: May 30, 2026
Venue: Segerstrom Hall