Dance show adds unique touch to artist's installations

At the opening of Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson's solo show at the Red Brick Art Museum in Beijing, he says he hopes visitors will immerse themselves in the natural world he has created.

"You can sit, lie down and even dance here," he says.

Four months later, his words have come true.

A modern dance show is being staged in four of Eliasson's large installations at the art museum.

The dance, performed by the Beijing Modern Dance Company, comprises four parts. Each presents a different work of Eliasson under the themes of light, shadow, wind and water.

The themes match Eliasson's installations that create and amplify these natural effects.

According to Gaoyan Jinzi, director of the Beijing Modern Dance Company, half of each dance is improvised.

She performs a solo for the Wind section, moving her body in sync with a revolving water tunnel.

Water drops from the tunnel shine and whirl and twinkle, creating a movie-like effect.

At the start of Light, modern dancers from Gao's troupe walk among visitors lying on the ground, with big rings hanging over their heads, reflecting in a mirror on the ceiling.

The troupe performed its dances for five days at the end of July. And it attracted film directors, musicians, movie stars, poets and writers, many of whom say the show was their first time visiting the museum.