Zhang Jigang

Created by Zhang in 1986, it revolves around a mother and her criminal son. It was performed in Beijing, and was one of Zhang's first major works.

A comedic story created by Zhang Jigang revolving around a couple who visit the Yuanxiao Festival and lose each other in crowd. It quickly became a smash hit, and was franchised across China by dozens of provincial theatre companies.

A show developed by a number of choreographers.

Received the 20th Century Classical Dance Award, and a national smash success. It also received the 3rd Taoli Award for outstanding dance production.

Another production to receive the 20th Century Classical Dance Award. The story revolved around the passion of dance in China.

Zhang Jigang's most famous and influential production. The piece features 21 hearing impaired dancers who form remarkable arm and hand positions by standing behind each other in a perfect column. Breathtaking images are created as the dancers produce perfectly timed and choreographed movements. The show quickly became a national treasure and overwhelming domestic success. It was first performed internationally at the Kennedy Centre in Washington, D.C. in front of former President of the United States Bill Clinton, senior White House staff and spectators. It generated rave reviews and was showcased shortly thereafter around the world in countries including Australia, Japan, North Korea, Egypt, Turkey and Italy. In 2004 it was performed at the Closing Ceremonies for the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece (see it here) and Miss World 2004 pageant held in Sanya, China.[2] The primary filmed version was captured in 2005 at the Spring Festival in China on CCTV. It subsequently spread across the internet on such sites as Google Video and YouTube (see it here). It is widely estimated that hundreds of millions of Chinese and international viewers around the world have viewed the videos online.

Zhang Jigang's most recent production. The large scale show features a cast with some of China's most famous acrobatic and traditional dance stars. It revolves around the life of a young man who seeks his fortune in Shanxi during the Tang Dynasty. Poison Dates includes a huge ensemble with over 200 dancers. It is franchised across China and has been received by soldout shows in over 100 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Taiyuan and Hong Kong. In early 2007, the show toured Japan and in December 2007 travelled to Taiwan.

Zhang Jigang was a returning celebrity judge on China's most popular dance idol show. The program could be compared to that of the Idol series or Dancelife, with contestants vying to win a coveted prize in ballet, hip-hop, Latin, folk and Chinese classical dance. It was broadcast nationally every night from April 19 - 28th 2007 at 7:30pm on CCTV 3. Season 4 received the highest domestic ratings for the series ever, with an estimated national audience over 200 million viewers per episode.[3]

On August 8, 2008, Zhang Jigang co-directed and choreographed the 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony in Beijing, China.[4] Hein Verbruggen, chairman of the IOC Coordination Commission for the XXIX Olympiad, called the ceremony "a grand, unprecedented success."[5] The AFP called it "a spectacular opening ceremony."[6] The BBC and The Times concurred by calling it a dazzling and spectacular show in Beijing.[7][8]