2008 Woodie Awards
Cultural dance performance makes its debut at SRU
By Sheryl McGlory
Rocket Advertising Manager
Issue date: 1/20/06 Section: Entertainment
|
The dance group is from New Jersey, but travels across the globe to shares its dances with more than 100,000 people each year.
According to the company's Web site, nainichen.org, the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company combines American modern dance with Asian art to transport its audiences to a place that transcends cultural boundaries and celebrates the commonalities between tradition and innovation, freedom and discipline and spirit and form.
Manager of University Events Deb Baker said the company was chosen to perform at the university because of how highly recommended they are and how widely they are known.
"They're probably the American Chinese dance company that tours the most in the United States," Baker said.
According to the Web site, "Celebrating the diversity of ideas shaped by the immigrant's journey, the company bridges the gap of understanding between cultures."
Tonight's program includes eight performances from the group, including the traditional Chinese New Year "Lion Dance."
The Lion Dance has been a ritual in the Chinese culture for approximately 3,000 years, according to the group's site.
The dance is said to have come into existence when the emperor of China's Tang Dynasty held a festival where people came dressed in costumes representing 100 different kinds of animals.
According to the Web site, "The Lion Dance is a prayer for peace, because in it, a powerful beast is led by a playful child. The child and beast playing together symbolizes harmony on earth."
Also included in the evening's performance are a Mongolian Chopstick Dance; Lu Wen-Long, the Warrior, a dance telling the story of a child born in a Han military family before being abducted by Manchurians and raised by the Han's enemy; the Peacock Dance, celebrating a sacred bird among the Dai people in Yunnan province; and Festival, a dance for the Dragon Boat Festival in the summer.
Joan Harris, chairperson of the Community Arts Series at Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Mississippi, said the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company visited their school in November.
She said the arts series usually includes a performance by a theater company, but asked the dance company to come instead and the performance was a big hit.
"It's very, very beautiful," she said. "They did a morning program for the pre-college students and some of the students went home and made their parents come to see (the performance) that night."
Baker said the aim of the series is to enhance opportunities for the community and to bring quality arts entertainment to SRU's students.
The company will perform in Miller Auditorium tonight at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $7 for SRU students, $12 for adults and $10 for those 62 years old and older or 17 years old and younger.
To purchase tickets, call (724) 738-2091.
