FINE ART Supports the Stunning Premiere of the Acrobatics Drama The Art of War in Kunming
On the evening of May 21, 2026, coinciding with the seventh anniversary of the Xi'an Warrior Flags Acrobatic Troupe, the large-scale acrobatics drama The Art of War – a National Arts Fund 2024 Stage Creation Grant project – officially premiered at the Warrior Flags Grand Theatre in Dianchi Houhai, Kunming. Combining breathtaking acrobatic vocabulary with profound military philosophy, the production delivered a deeply moving audio-visual feast to the audience of the Spring City.
Using stage montage techniques, the drama interweaves the personal fate of Sun Wu (Sun Tzu) with the turbulent events of the Spring and Autumn period. From first perceiving the art of war in a family of generals, to forming a deep friendship with Wu Zixu and entering the state of Wu together; from the brilliant strategy of defeating Chu with 30,000 troops at the Battle of Boju, to witnessing the devastation of war and resolutely retiring, finally writing the thirteen chapters of the timeless military classic. The opening scene of a ruined battlefield is both a true portrayal of the chaotic Spring and Autumn era and the starting point of Sun Wu’s lifelong exploration of the art of war. The concluding scene of a desolate hillside with sparse woods and quietly resting bamboo slips represents not only the end of his life but also the beginning of The Art of War being handed down for millennia. Infusing poetic emotion into the solid historical framework, the drama presents a warm, passionate, struggling, and persistent image of the Sage of War.
The audience applauded thunderously. High-level acrobatic skills such as ballet on the shoulder, bouncing on bars, throwing and catching, soft contortion, and aerial straps vividly depicted the clashing metal-and-iron chaos of the Spring and Autumn period. The “Way” of military strategy and the “emotion” of human nature were seamlessly fused, eliciting exclamations of “stunning.”
In this stage narrative interweaving strength and beauty, multiple professional lighting fixtures from FINE ART used precise light and shadow to infuse soul into the contemporary interpretation of the millennial military classic. The FINE 1400LH BSWF four-in-one framing light, equipped with a 1400W LED light engine (Ra and R9 both above 90), delivers a maximum luminous flux of over 40,000 lm. Within a zoom range of 6° to 50°, it delicately reproduces the desolation of battlefield ruins and the warm texture of bamboo-slip calligraphy, sharply framing Sun Wu’s solitary figure writing the classic and the grand spectacle of the Battle of Boju.
The FINE 4019 PIXIE PLUS two-in-one beam and wash light, using high-quality RGBW four-in-one LEDs as its light source, achieves an illuminance of 29,500 lux at 6 meters. With a wide linear zoom range of 4° to 60° and uniform color mixing, it effortlessly creates the changing atmosphere from youthful enlightenment to the devastation of war. The FINE 608 BATTEN moving head bar light, with 8 x 60W RGBW four-in-one sources and a 5°–50° zoom, produces a full, non‑crossing beam at narrow angles, outlining the solemn formations of troops on the battlefield. The FINE 550 BSW PLUS three-in-one light, with its Ø169mm output lens, creates a robust beam. Its CMY + CTO + flow color wheel interplay injects the sharpness of metal and the intense background of war into the stage.
From May 23 to 26, The Art of War will continue its run at the Warrior Flags Grand Theatre in Dianchi Houhai, Kunming. FINE ART is honored to witness, through light and shadow, this dialogue across millennia on military wisdom – as the bamboo slips rest quietly and the smoke of war dissipates, the wisdom and spirit of the Sage of War will never end on this stage.
