Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company presents "Lunar New Year Celebration: Year of the Monkey"
Company:
Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company
Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College
presents
Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company
Lunar New Year Celebration:
Year of the Monkey
Sunday, January 31, 2016 at 3pm
Featuring internationally acclaimed silver medalist Feng Gu
of the Beijing Kunqu Theater
as The Monkey King
Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College continues its 2015-16 Season, once again partnering with Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company for its third annual Lunar New Year Celebration on Sunday, January 31, 2016 at 3pm. Tickets are $25 for adults and $12.50 for children (ages 12 and under) and can be purchased at BrooklynCenter.org or by calling the box office at 718-951-4500 (Tue-Sat, 1pm-6pm).
The prestigious Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company presents an all-new celebration of Chinese culture commemorating the Year of the Monkey, a year characterized by cleverness, curiosity, and playful mischief. The festive, family-friendly event will showcase thrilling choreography inspired by shadow puppetry, Peking Opera performers in dazzling costumes, live music performed by the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York, and a traditional Chinese marketplace.
The performance will open with the traditional Double Lion Dance, an audience favorite that represents the coming of spring and a prayer for peace in its depiction of a small child in harmony with ferocious lions. Also included will be a Mongolian Chopstick Dance, the Coinstick Dance from Hubei, and a solo piece entitled Joy, performed by guest artist Jia Liu, a former teacher at the prestigious Beijing Dance Academy.
The Company will be joined by two international artists from Beijing, sponsored by the Cultural Ministry of the People's Republic of China, performing a special excerpt from Monkey King in the Heavenly Palace, one of the most celebrated Peking Opera productions in China.
Two of Nai-Ni Chen's original works will be featured in the program, showcasing her signature cross-cultural style that fuses the dynamism of American modern dance with the elegant splendor of her own Chinese culture. Moveable Figures, a dance for seven, is inspired by the art of shadow puppetry. Mirage, created by Ms. Chen in 2012, is inspired by her first experience on the Silk Road, incorporating the amazing cultural dance of the Uyghur people and rhythm from Persia and Central Asia.
About Feng Gu (The Monkey King)
Mr. Gu is a principal member of the Beijing Kunqu Theater. He started his study of Chinese Opera at age 11, specializing in the role of the Monkey King, a subspecialty that is regarded as one of the most difficult because the actor must play both an animal and a god, be well trained in acrobatics, and deliver a performance with highly dramatic demands. In 2006 he was one of the five top medalists in the worldwide Monkey King competition, which included artists from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and other Chinese diasporas around the world. As a leading artist, he has been called upon to perform for visiting dignitaries including the Royal family of England, the Prime Minister of Russia, and other international government leaders. He has toured Russia, German, Austria, Japan, and the United States.
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