A new art form, Chinese divine dance, comes to town
By Terri Wu
Epoch Times Washington, D.C. Staff
Dec 12, 2007
Beginning of this month, President of the Baltimore City Council
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (center) presented a proclamation to the Falun
Dafa Association of Washington, DC at the Baltimore city hall. Shantao
Lai (right) received the proclamation on behalf of the Falun Dafa
Association. Jianmei Yu (left) represented New Tang Dynasty Television.
(Lisa Fan / Epoch Times)
This year Baltimore has become the first stop of the worldwide tour
of Holiday Wonders and Chinese New Year Spectacular performances.
Local leaders of the fine arts here are excited about the Baltimore
debut of the shows, while the political leadership, with a watchful eye
to the local economy, is extending a warm welcome to this unique
performance of traditional Chinese dance and music.
This is the fifth year that New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) has
produced the Spectacular show, and the second year of the Holiday
Wonders.
"I'm not surprised that there will be interest of and great turnout
to this type of performance. We have such a diverse community.
Baltimore is probably one of the best places to offer something like
that," said Theresa Colvin, Executive Director of the Maryland State
Arts Council.
Ms. Colvin is pleased to see a new art form in Maryland. She says
that the Baltimore arts community is quite strong in music, especially
classical music, but can use some help in dance. Dance has been a
regional and national challenge.
During 2006–2007 holiday seasons, the performance delighted over
200,000 people with 82 live shows in 32 cities across North America,
Europe, Asia, and Australia, said Julianne Xu from the Public Relations
Department of the New Tang Dynasty Television.
The essence of traditional Chinese culture conveyed in the programs
brought many audience members to tears, Ms. Xu said. This year, she
said the performance is expected to reach 600,000 live audiences in
more than 70 cities.
In addition to heavenly maidens ("fairies") in colorful costumes,
original music written exclusively for the show, and creative stage
decorations with Chinese traditional style, the performance present the
essence of the true Chinese culture, according to Ms. Xu.
"Enter a world of celestial maidens and be uplifted. Flowing
scarves, quick dainty steps, and graceful lifts give a sense of
floating and flying. Ethereal string, delicate bells and the soothing
harp combine for a felling of timelessness." This description taken
from the "Celestial Maidens" dance in last year's program brochure
aptly captures the spirit of the shows.
Chinese classical dance has equal emphasis on allure/style and
techniques. In addition to comprehensive techniques, including Chinese
drama and Kung-fu, the art form stresses the "moral" standing of the
dancer so that the dancer's inwardness is conveyed as much as her/his
physical beauty/power and movement on the stage.
Unlike Classical ballet, Chinese classical dance has a multitude of
forms and virtually infinite possibilities. Moreover, China has a
five-thousand-year-old civilization and countless stories from
pre-historic legends and history. These grand moments in history when
the Chinese people developed in particular cultural phases or dynasties
can be encapsulated and rendered in Chinese classical dance.
Randall Vega, the Cultural Affairs Director at the Baltimore Office
of Promotion & the Arts, says that Baltimore is still the cultural
hub of Maryland, acknowledging other parts of the state also host large
cultural institutions, such as Strathmore in Montgomery County.
Traditionally an industrial city, Baltimore is being transformed into a
creative arts center.
Both Colvin and Vega say that Baltimore audiences have the
background and interest to appreciate other cultures and diversity, and
that Chinese classical dance as a new art form will add value to the
local arts communities.
Arts Promotions Pay
Last week, Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) hosted the 2007 annual
conference of state arts agencies in Baltimore. Arts have played a
significant role in the state's economic development in the past five
to six years. According to a study by MSAC, the economic impact of arts
development in Maryland State was over a billion US dollars in 2006.
Revitalizing local economy through the "arts and entertainment
districts" and "public value creation" were hot topics at this year's
conference, which officially opened at the Maryland Institute College
of Arts (MICA), which is the anchor institution of Station North.
"Station North" was the first state designated arts and
entertainment district in Baltimore. According to Elizabeth Carven,
Deputy Director of MSAC, Maryland Institute College of Arts (MICA), a
school specializing in visual arts, was the anchor institution of the
district. Old warehouses were renovated to provide artists studio space
at affordable prices.
Historically, Baltimore was a very big, dirty, industrial city.
According to Randall Vega, almost 1 million people were living in
Baltimore by the 1950s. Starting from 1960s and through the rest of the
20th century, the industrial base in Baltimore eroded, as did much of
the rest of the U.S. Richard Florida's idea of a "creative economy"
attracted the notice of Governor Martin O'Malley, who was then
Baltimore mayor. Policy makers started to look into the arts to revive
Baltimore and bring vibrancy back.
Local Leaders Welcome Chinese Traditional Arts
Recognizing the local impacts of arts and the value of Chinese
traditional arts, some local leaders in Baltimore and the state have
extended a warm welcome.
Maryland Senator Ben Cardin has sent a "Greeting" letter to the Divine Performing Arts Troupe stating:
"I particularly want to congratulate the members of The Divine
Performing Arts for their impressive talent and devotion to sharing
traditional Chinese arts around the world. We are fortunate for this
opportunity to experience rich culture diversity of China's many ethnic
nationalities as we celebrate this special time of year."
At beginning of this month, President of the Baltimore City Council
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake presented the Resolution to the Falun Dafa
Association of Washington, DC at Baltimore city hall. She praised the
Falun Dafa Association of Washington, DC for sponsoring the Divine
Performing Arts that is bringing "Holiday Wonders" to Baltimore.
Rawlings-Blake is pleased all the citizens in Baltimore and the
surrounding areas will have this opportunity to experience authentic
Chinese culture. In her memory, it has been a long time since any
Chinese culture performance was offered to Baltimore. Referring to
Baltimore as the first stop of the worldwide Holiday Wonders and Chinese New Year Spectacular performances, she said, "Wonderful. We like to be the trendsetter."
The performance that will kick off the worldwide tour for this
holiday season will be in Baltimore's Lyric Opera House on December
18th. For more information, call either (410) 547-7328 or (202)
397-7328 or see www.HolidayWonders-md.com
Additional reporting by Grace Yao, Washington, D.C. staff.
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