Hong Kong choreographer Yang Yuntao explores a hero’s burden in adaptation of comic classic

It’s tough to be a hero. Just as Spider-man is told that “with great power comes great responsibility”, Wah Ying-hung, the most skilful swordsman in Ma Wing-shing’s comic classic Chinese Hero, has to learn to lead a life of burden.

This less glorified take on what it means to be a hero has inspired choreographer Yang Yuntao to adapt Ma’s best-known work for the Hong Kong Dance Company’s upcoming production Chinese Hero: A Lone Exile.

“My idea of a ‘hero’ is very neutral; it’s neither good or bad,” says the artistic director of the 35-year-old government-subsidised troupe. Instead of presenting a straightforward heroic narrative, “I want to explore the many limitations that a hero may face”.

“In the case of Wah Ying-hung, because he was born with a curse – that everyone close to him must die – our piece looks at what it means to live in solitude... and the inability to escape one’s fate.”

Originally titled Tales of the Blood Sword, Chinese Hero follows Wah Ying-hung, who left China for the US to avenge the person who murdered his parents. There, he is caught up in gang wars and a deadly feud with his main nemesis Invincible, whose life’s mission is to become, well, invincible.

With so much blood and violence, this popular 1980s martial arts series may not be an immediate choice for a dance adaptation. But Yang says his work focuses more on the characters’ emotions and feelings that can be expressed through movement.