Martial Arts in Live Theater [Archive] - Kung Fu Magazine Forums

GeneChing

01-08-2008, 12:18 PM

I've always thought martial arts have a great place in live theater. I'm hoping this thread will document an upcoming trend. Some productions, like KA (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44703) and Jump (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=46473) are worthy of their own independent thread, and I'm looking more at shows that are more than just a martial arts demo like the Shaolin shows (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37527) and Kung Fu Femmes (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44560). Here's example number one:

Shakespeare, martial-arts style (http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/theater/346399_julius08q.html)
It doesn't always work but actors stand out
By TRAVIS NICHOLS

There is a crackpot wing of Shakespeare studies that says the Bard never meant for his plays to be staged. The language is too rich and the allusions too manifold for anything but close textual study. Anything else -- live action, sets, costumes, etc. -- would simply be a distraction from the masterful language.

I first heard this theory from a University of Georgia professor, Charles Doyle, who delivered it nearly with a straight face. It's a preposterous idea, but its extreme point of view throws into relief the near impossibility of staging Shakespeare in a way that allows the man's brilliance on the page to come through with a minimum of interference from the stage.

For the Seattle Shakespeare Company, this is the perennial challenge, and the company regularly and admirably meets it. Through Jan. 27 at Center House Theatre, it has taken on Shakespeare's grand political drama of the Roman Empire's fall, "Julius Caesar." For anyone who can't get enough chicanery from presidential primary season, or who feels unfulfilled by HBO's decadence-by-the-numbers series, "Rome," this seems like just the thing.

Adapted and directed by Gregg Loughridge, the company's "Caesar" in this "chamber" production doesn't lord over the togas and sandals of ancient Rome. Instead he stalks a kind of dojo removed from any specific time or place.

Most of the action takes place on an elevated center stage, entry to which requires the pious removal of slippers. Antony and Caesar both have shaved heads, while Cassius has a vaguely Eastern braid, and all the characters wear quasi-samurai uniforms, carry swords and bow to one another in greeting. Brutus performs some early-morning tai chi and slaps his pants out of the way before squatting samurai style. The idea, according to the director's note, is to show Caesar imposing not a historical tyranny but "a garden variety tyranny: a boss, a minister or priest, martial arts instructor, editor, chef or theater director who, basking under the trust and willingness of their respective congregations, took advantage and went awry."

It's a fascinating concept -- Caesar as leader of the Moonies -- but it doesn't quite come through. A hippy-dippy cult aura is hinted at by chambered nautiluses projected onto the stage's screens, "Voodoo Chile" blaring between scenes, and Calpurnia employing tarot cards to interpret her dream of Caesar's demise.

However, such hints aren't enough to override the text's continual reference to Rome, Romans, the Tiber, etc. Instead of being a fresh take on a fusty classic, the staging seems a muddle, a problem exacerbated by the occasionally stale recitations of the Bard's words by some of the cast. How David Quicksall's Brutus can muster the courage to kill Caesar is a miracle since he seems mostly to have just gotten out of bed.

Still, Hana Lass shines as Cassius, projecting the fervency of a true believer willing to kill for her cause, and Kelly Kitchens' muffled hysteria makes Portia into a contemporary and wholly sympathetic wife. She steals nearly as many scenes as Brandon Simmons does as Casca, a role to which he brings a joyful and hammy flamboyance. These actors pull off a delicate trick: They make time-tested characters their own on the stage, without diluting the beauty of what's on the page.

冠木侍

01-08-2008, 07:29 PM

Would Cirque Du Solei be appropriate for this thread Gene? They had done a MA related theme in the past.

GeneChing

01-09-2008, 11:00 AM

I mentioned it above, with a hyperlink no less.

TaichiMantis

01-09-2008, 03:31 PM

I mentioned it above, with a hyperlink no less.

Saw it in Vegas last year...awesome!

冠木侍

01-10-2008, 03:04 AM

I mentioned it above, with a hyperlink no less.

Thanks for letting me know.

I was not familiar with the name of the specific production. Therefore I thought it would be appropriate for your criteria (not knowing that it was already mentioned by you).

That's all.

冠木侍

01-10-2008, 03:12 AM

Saw it in Vegas last year...awesome!

Might be a while before I go to Vegas. I'll have to catch the performance on cable...:(

GeneChing

01-10-2008, 10:06 AM

We were actually very involved with the production of KA. See the following articles:

Kungfu Under the Big Top: Cirque Du Soleil's Hot New Show, Dralion (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=265) - 2000 October (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=126)

Treasure Hunt at Treasure Island - Cirque du Soleil Auditions Wushu Champs in Las Vegas - 2003 July/August (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=351)

The Gala Premiere of Cirque Du Soliel’s New Show, KA - 2005 May/June (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=590)

The Wushu Warriors of KA: Cirque Du Soleil’s New Vegas Show - 2005 July/August (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=598)

Shaolin Trips: Episode 4 - A Hero Watching the Formation: Epilogue: My Master's Pilgrimage to Gold Mountain and the Bu Hao Mao (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=595) - e-zine

Many of the martial arts stars of Cirque came through our contacts, including the two lead performers, Cheri and Jennifer Haight. Cirque still contacts us when they're doing calls - if they're general calls I post them here on the forum (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37324).

冠木侍

01-15-2008, 06:56 PM

GeneChing

09-19-2008, 10:01 AM

Coming soon to NYC
LEE/GENDARY at HERE Theater October 2008 (http://www.leegendary.com/)

When Bruce Lee was born, his mother gave him a girl’s name to disguise him from evil spirits. When actor/performing artist Soomi Kim learned this, she felt destined to create a theatre performance inhabiting the incomparable martial arts superstar.

Set in the inner landscape of Bruce Lee's mind the moment before he died in 1973, LEE/GENDARY is a theatrical deconstruction of an icon; a spiritual and psychological examination of Lee's life from birth to death.

This unique gender bending theater performance fluidly integrates text, original music, video and an explosive hybrid of martial arts and dance.

LEE/GENDARY:
Created and performed by Soomi Kim
Written by Derek Nguyen
Directed by Suzi Takahashi
Music composed by Jen Shyu
Additional sound and music recorded by Adam Rogers
Video by Chris McClain

With: Shing Ka, Walker Lewis, Constance Parng, Ariel Shepley and Pai Wang.

Now Playing in L.A.
East West Players TIM DANG, Producing Artistic Director in association with Cedar Grove OnStage presents BE LIKE WATER (http://www.eastwestplayers.org/on_the_stage/water.htm)

by DAN KWONG
Directed by CHRIS TASHIMA
Martial Arts Choreography by DIANA LEE INOSANTO & RON BALICKI
Dance Choreography by BLYTHE MATSUI

Featuring
YURIE ANN CHO CESAR CIPRIANO JORDON DANG JONATHAN DECKER PAM HAYASHIDA SHAWN HUANG MICHAEL SUN LEE YVONNE LU STEPHEN OYOUNG
SEAN PEAVY ARIEL RIVERA SAYA TOMIOKA

Set Designer AKEIME MITTERLEHNER Costume Designer NAOMI YOSHIDA
Lighting Designer JOSE LOPEZ Sound Designer DAVE IWATAKI
Property Master KEN TAKEMOTO Hair & Makeup Designer ALYSSA RAVENWOOD
Projections Designer ALEXANDER GAO Assoc. Production Manager IRMA ESCAMILLA
Assistant Stage Manager LETITIA CHANG Stage Manager ONDINA V. DOMINGUEZ

A humorous family drama with Bruce Lee spirit!

Chicago, 1978. Disco rules. Five years since the tragic death of legendary martial artist Bruce Lee. Tracy Fong is a 13-year old ass-kicking, gung-fu fanatic tomboy, challenged by school bullies, airhead rivals, and a mother who just wants her to be a "normal" girl. When bad goes to worse, the Ghost of Bruce Lee appears to teach her the true meaning of strength and the true power of water.

(This production contains adult language)

PURCHASE TICKETS NOW! www.EastWestPlayers.org, or call 213.625.7000

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION:
Wednesday - Saturday at 8PM; Sunday at 2PM

David Henry Hwang Theater
120 Judge John Aiso St.
Little Tokyo – Downtown
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Preview Performances: September 11-14, $20 all seats, $12 w/ valid student I.D.

Opening Night: September 17, $60 all seats
includes pre-show hosted bar & post-show reception with cast and crew

Performance Run: September 18–October 12
Wed - Sat at 8PM; Sun at 2PM
$35 Orchestra, $30 Balcony

Pay-What-You-Can Performance: Thursday, September 18 at 8PM

Next Generation Community Night: Wed, September 24 at 7pm.
Free Pizza, Soda & Live Music.
$1 Opportunity Drawing Tickets. Prizes include Nintendo DS & Bruce Lee merchandise.

American Sign Language-interpreted Performance: Sun, October 5 at 2PM
$20 tickets for deaf & hard of hearing patrons.

Wine Down Fridays: Join us on Fridays and enjoy complimentary glasses of white or red wine served before the production
(Must be 21 years of age to drink)

doug maverick

09-19-2008, 10:58 AM

Coming soon to NYC
LEE/GENDARY at HERE Theater October 2008 (http://www.leegendary.com/)

Now Playing in L.A.
East West Players TIM DANG, Producing Artistic Director in association with Cedar Grove OnStage presents BE LIKE WATER (http://www.eastwestplayers.org/on_the_stage/water.htm)

both shing ka and pai wang(this dude is 6'4 freaking giant) are friends of mine. pai wang has been training wushu with master gao xian four almost four years, but he has years of gymnastics training and is even a coach(man you should see this giant flipping away) shing ka, has been training in kung fu on and off for nearly two decades(guy is old all thou he looks like a kid) mostly with master tak wah eng, in traditional chinese kung fu and tai chi.

GeneChing

09-26-2008, 10:29 AM

Nice to see Fred Ho's name dropped. We ran a piece on him in our Shaolin Special 2000 (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=152) - ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINESE AMERICA: A Martial Arts Ballet: Shaolin Temple Burns in 5 Acts By Ruth Margraff and Jose Manuel Figueroa He was also mentioned in Urban Dragons: Black and Latino Masters of Chinese Martial Arts (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=745) by Stephan Berwick

Soomi Speaks (http://www.asiantalentonline.com/soomiinterview.htm)
An interview with NYC multidisciplinary performance artist Soomi Kim

"I always felt I had the soul of a dancer and also really wanted to act.
And music feeds my soul. I had to find a way where these things could
co-exist through the medium of performance in order to feel as though
I am truly expressing myself creatively and honestly."

Soomi Kim

There is need to know and want to know. Everything we need to know about
Soomi Kim and her art can be found on her official website and her MySpace page.
Here are questions about things we want to know.

Appropriately, the promotional material about you presents a powerful, larger-than-life image. But who is Soomi Kim the human being? Where and how did you grow up? What is your daily life like now?

I grew up in a small town in Oregon, called Lebanon (population 10,000) from ages 5-14. We then moved to Beaverton, a suburb of Portland where I attended High School. We were the only Korean family in Lebanon. I always believe big dreams are cultivated in small towns. Right now my daily life consists of living in the East village in Manhattan, riding my bike to Chelsea Piers to work as a gymnastics/dance coach and choreographer to young competitive gymnasts. I am a freelance actor/performing artist and I work with a few companies and artists as well as create, produce and develop my own work.

Were there any experiences or influences in your early life that pointed you in your current artistic direction?

I started competitive gymnastics at age 7 and I suppose I grew accustomed to the attention and the feeling of being “special.” When you grow up in a small town where you feel like and outsider, being able to have special skills that are unusual is empowering and the attention also becomes acceptance. I loved music and dance when I was young and I think I pretty much was hypnotized when I watched the movie “Fame” and saw people dancing in the streets. That’s when I dreamt of living in NYC and realized there was an exciting life beyond the borders of my town’s cow pastures.

“Multi-disciplinary performance artist” is not generally considered to be a traditional career path. How did you become aware of such a thing and what drew you to it?

Good question. It has been a blessing and a curse to love different artistic disciplines. As I mentioned already, I did gymnastics most of my life, but also played the alto saxophone from 5th grade through college and fell in love with jazz. I always felt I had the soul of a dancer and also really wanted to act. So when I began my acting career in NYC, I tried and experienced everything; stage, film, industrials, voiceovers, some commercial work etc. Although I gained some useful experience doing these types of “gigs” I never felt like I was fulfilling my potential- being really physical is part of who I am. Fulfilling a role through text using my voice and body as an instrument as an actor feeds my intellectual side as well as dramatic (we Koreans love to be dramatic in case you didn’t know). And music feeds my soul. I had to find a way where these things could co-exist through the medium of performance in order to feel as though I am truly expressing myself creatively and honestly (as Bruce Lee would say). That’s when I began combining disciplines to find my own voice as an artist. Besides, the work I now see that really excites and floors me is mostly hybrid work of some kind; I love the work that is produced at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM): artists like Pina Bausch, William Forsythe, Robert Wilson, are visually and viscerally stunning. I also love well acted, written and directed straight ahead plays but I have been in a phase where I am more stimulated and excited by companies who create and choreograph original work that is outside the box. When I witness the imagination realized it is awe inspiring.

You have obviously received a lot of training in many areas of the arts. Of that training, what has been the most beneficial to you?

When I got cast for Fred Ho’s martial arts theater show “Voice of the Dragon” I had no concept of what Kung Fu was, had no awareness of any of it. I learned a bit about different styles of Kung Fu for my role, (Ng Mui, a hand to hand boxer/nun in the Shaolin Temple who ironically was the originator of Wing Chun, the style of martial arts that Bruce Lee is based in) a bit of tiger style (Hungar) mixed in with Wing Chun and Wu Shu. When we went on a 9 week tour across the U.S. of the show, I tried my best to learn from the really talented cast. There were many experts in their various styles of training and it was an opportunity to acquire martial arts to my vocabulary of movement. I now describe my movement style as a hybrid of martial arts, dance and gymnastics.

Do you create projects based on skills you already possess –or do you challenge yourself to master something new for the sake of your vision?

Like Bruce, I believe in utilizing what makes you (one) unique and try to really express that through the making of art. I use the skills and disciplines I have studied as well as my personal history as a human being. I will discover material or subject matter that inspires me. When this happens, it usually hits me without my realizing I have to create something out of this inspiration. Then I find that within that, there is always the task and exciting challenge of either learning something new or tackling/solving problems. For Lee/gendary I learned Wing Chun but this was a joy for me ; since I found it is just an extension of my love for movement. I am at the beginning stage for a new work that integrates dance/movement and poetry. This is pretty new territory for me but I wanted the challenge of discovering or uncovering my own process- I want to go through the uncomfortability and awkwardness of trying to choreograph to text.

The sheer physicality of your art is stunning. How do you get into/stay in shape for these things?

I never feel like I am in good enough shape! My job is coaching gymnastics and dance to competitive gymnasts, so that can be pretty physical; spotting. demonstrating, moving mats J But I also just go to the gym to workout, do yoga, condition, I dance, practice martial arts and usually train with a boxer named Gary Griffin who is a fantastic athlete and boxer, but also has a history with mixed martial arts. I wish I had more time to take

Dance classes. Lately I have been running at Tompkins Square Park in the East village and jump roping with the rats.

Have you been injured either in performance or in preparation for a show?

I have been punched a few times in the mouth when rehearsing choreographed fighting, I was whacked in the head with a staff during a live industrial performance (it was 7am!) I think I was still tired and I was supposed to duck, instead I jumped.. (yeah, ouch!!) One time I was performing in a taping for a variety show in Beirut and couldn’t keep enough distance between from my fight partner because the t.v. camera man was in the way and got kicked pretty solidly on the side of my head. It was the same guy who whacked my head with a staff! (you know who you are..) LOL both were accidents of course.

A bit about Lee/gendary (covered in detail elsewhere) – What inspired this work? Are you a big Bruce Lee fan?

I was not actually a big Bruce Lee fan. I watched the famous interview between Lee and Pierre Berton recorded in Hong Kong 1971 and I was totally mesmerized. I knew then I had to create a piece about him and it didn’t even dawn on me that he was a man and I was a woman. I just felt so connected to him that I had to play him. I pretty much created my dream role.
continued next post

GeneChing

09-26-2008, 10:29 AM

From www.asiantalentonline.com.

Your recreation of Lee’s movie fight scenes is said to be quite precise. Given that movies are shot in pieces – and stage performances are in real-time – how do you pull that off? Are you exhausted at the end of each show?

Right now there are only 2 fight scenes; one from the Game of Death (between Lee and Kareem Abdul Jabaar) and a final fight scene between Lee and his dark alter ego (“Yang”, played by Shing Ka). In The Game of Death fight, I took some sections of the fight from the movie and blended my own choreography. I worked with my set of skills as well as the actor (Pai Sen Wang) who plays Kareem. I have done a lot of choreographed stage fighting through being a company member of a martial arts performance troupe the Art of War (a.k.a. Go!) and performing in Fred Ho’s aforementioned shows. In both companies, I performed a lot with the same martial artists who are amazing and taught me a great deal. And yes, it can be exhausting!

When Lee/gendary concludes its run, what is next for you? What other projects are on the horizon?

I am a member of an experimental theater international female company called Ex.p girl. We co-create original work. We will be performing a show called Paris Syndrome also at HERE for part of a new work series called Culturemart in January 2009. I am also going to continue to work on a new piece called Dictee, the aforementioned dance theater work. I am also in the process of bringing Lee/gendary to Oregon State University. I would love to perform this show on the west coast.

Finally, what words of advice would you have for anyone considering a career like yours?

I think you should follow your own heart and that will create a path that will be designed as your own. Be patient. It takes time for your desires to unfold; to discover who you are and what your purpose as an artist is. Don’t be concerned with material results; if you are looking to get rich then there are other careers that can guarantee that more than pursuing your dreams as an artist. Stay stimulated. Read, see shows! This keeps you inspired, motivated and informed. Stay grounded, focused and seek as much advice as possible from people who are doing what you aspire to do; study them, observe their habits, adopt them as your mentors. Surround yourself with productive, inspiring, positive people. Lastly, as Bruce so famously said “be formless, shapeless…. Like water! “

I would like to add that this epic task of producing and creating a show is not easy. I have great collaborators (Derek Nguyen, Suzi Takahashi, Jen Shyu, Eric Lee, Adam Rogers and many others) who believe in the project and I am very lucky to have had a lot of very supportive people contribute to the ongoing process of finally attaining a run this show deserves. To all who have supported and work so hard and have been incredibly dedicated—I THANK YOU.

doug maverick

09-26-2008, 10:46 AM

i met fred ho, his shows are extremely intresting his asian/afro jazz ensemble sounds amazing mixed with martial arts. when i first met him he gave me a card with him on it naked holding a sax and i thought this dude is weird as hell. he just recently won a bought with cancer so i'm glad to see him being talked about.

GeneChing

09-26-2008, 10:54 AM

Fred Ho, nekkid with the sax, in our 2000 Shaolin Special. It was the lead shot. Man, did I hear it from the monks. :rolleyes:

doug maverick

09-26-2008, 04:36 PM

in was 19 when i got that card my mom found it doing laundry, and it took me a month to convince her i wasn't nor was i asked to do gay porn.

brianlkennedy

09-27-2008, 05:03 AM

Here in Taiwan, Cloud Gate Dance Troupe is taught by a well known taijiquan teacher named Hsiung Wei and the troupe routinely incorporates the movements into their routines. The work of Hsiung Wei with Cloud Gate is quite well known here in Taiwan.

Hsiung Wei has developed his own "brand" of taijiquan, which he calls a taiji dao yin (i.e. taji "exercises").

take care,
Brian

GeneChing

10-01-2008, 08:59 AM

From our local Asian scene watchdog Jeff Yang

Asian Pop: Bruce Lee's ghost gets part in play (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/01/DD6E133D0I.DTL&hw=jeff+yang&sn=001&sc=1000)
Jeff Yang

Dan Kwong remembers as if it were yesterday the first time he saw Bruce Lee in all of his heavenly glory: "It was utterly mind-boggling," he says. "Here I was, in an audience predominantly composed of white men, and they were cheering - just cheering - for an Asian guy."

Like many Asian American men, Kwong found that experience transformative. "Nowadays, there are many more positive and respected images of Asian men in the media, but back then, back in the '70s, he was it. He was all there was," says Kwong. "We grew up in this desert in terms of role models and heroes."

So when Kwong, a performance artist who has made his name and career out of one-man shows like the acclaimed "Secrets of the Samurai Centerfielder," was commissioned to write his first play, it was almost inevitable that his thoughts would turn to the person whose career and legacy were life-changing, not only for him, but for many of his peers. "I can't tell you how many Asian American guys I know who've said to me, 'Bruce Lee was my lifesaver,' " he says.

The result, "Be Like Water," premiered last week in a new production by Los Angeles's East West Players, the nation's oldest and most prominent Asian American repertory theater.

"Opening night was terrific - we had a wonderful audience," says Kwong. "But it was nerve-racking for me! It's a whole new experience to be sitting in the audience and watching other people perform my work. Having to let go and allow other people to carry things along - it's a real shift in perspective."

That's not the production's only shift in perspective: Ironically, given Bruce Lee's prominent role in shaping Asian American masculine identity, Kwong decided to make the play's protagonist a 13-year-old girl.

"I'm not sure when I decided to make the main character female, but I realized that it set up so many more obstacles, for this character, who's a kung fu fanatic to be a girl rather than a boy," says Kwong. "It became an opportunity to explore a lot of issues around family relationships, gender roles and all of the expectations that you don't meet when you don't match up to society's expectations of how you're supposed to fit into a gender box."

Fortunately, the production was able to draw on a flesh-and-blood example of what it's like to grow up as a girl in boyland: The show's martial arts choreographer happens to be Diana Lee Inosanto, whose father, Dan Inosanto, was one of Bruce Lee's closest friends and most prominent students.

"My inclination has always been to be kind of skeptical around projects that focus on Uncle Bruce" - having grown up around Lee, Inosanto still can't help but think of him as "Uncle Bruce."

"And when I heard about the play, I thought, 'Uncle Bruce's ghost is a character in this - huh.' It sounded like it could end up being a little exploitative. But I've worked with East West Players before, so I gave it a read. And I realized that Dan had done an amazing job, not only of capturing a side of Uncle Bruce that most people haven't seen, but also of creating a character I instantly connected with."

Tracy, the play's lead actor, is a devotee of wing chun kung fu who refuses to embrace girly-girl pursuits and worships the late Dragon's legacy. But as Tracy's rigid worldview causes her relationship with her mother to deteriorate, Lee's spirit decides to stage an intervention - to remind her of the central lesson of his teachings: "Be formless. Shapeless. Like water. Soft and flexible, yet it can penetrate the hardest substance. Punch it, you cannot hurt it.... Water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend."

Water is receptive, adaptable, yielding - it is yin, the essence of femininity. And that softer, hidden side of Lee is what comes out in Kwong's play. "Dan brings out Uncle Bruce's sense of humor, which most people have never seen - people who only know his movies think of him as grim and serious, but he was hilarious," says Inosanto. "And he was an amazing family man. His kids, Brandon and Shannon, were the most important thing in the world to him."

The portrait of masculinity most often seen in American media - the one that Asian American men are often driven to emulate - is harsh, aggressive, inflexible. It's a cowboy image, the maverick mentality; the unblinking, my-way-right-or-wrong attitude that has permeated not just pop culture but contemporary politics. So the decision by Kwong to reframe this icon of maleness to reveal his gentler, nurturing side is a uniquely relevant one, given the spirit of the times.

It's distressing to think that the only way that women can rise to power in our society is still to out-man their male peers; it's equally disquieting to think that Asian men often feel an equal need to overcompensate, to push off stereotypes of the effeminate Asian male by embracing brusque machismo, emotional unavailability and ****phobia.

That's something that Kwong has had to confront in himself as well. "There's a part of me in all of the characters in the play," he says. "But the character that I was probably closest to growing up is Jeremy" - the play's antagonist, a bully who terrorizes Tracy and her male best friend, whose name also happens to be Bruce Lee. "I grew up as an outsider and misfit in a working-class family, and I reacted by thinking I had to terrorize other kids to demonstrate my toughness."

But it's this junior Bruce Lee whom Kwong points to as the strongest character in the play; a disco lover who shrugs off Jeremy's taunts of "sissy" and rocks out to the beat of his own drum machine, the young Bruce shows Tracy that sometimes not confronting aggressors is a greater act of strength than pushing back.

Like his ghostly namesake, Lee shows the virtue of being soft and flexible, of going with the flow - in this case, to a syncopated, four-on-the-floor inner rhythm. Which is another characteristic the two Bruce Lees share. "Uncle Bruce loved disco," Inosanto says with a laugh. "He loved the moves, the clothing, the attitude - he was a 'Soul Train' fanatic. Don't forget, before he became a martial arts legend, he was the cha-cha champion of Hong Kong!"

GeneChing

10-20-2008, 09:42 AM

More grist. Needs pics.

Martial Dance presents . . . Paisley Arts Centre (http://www.theherald.co.uk/features/featuresdance/display.var.2461616.0.Martial_Dance_presents_Paisl ey_Arts_Centre.php)
MARY BRENNAN October 20 2008
Comment

Star rating ***

The curtain-raiser, performed by young dancers who'd taken part in the company's workshops, didn't just give the girls involved a chance to show off their newly acquired moves; it laid out some of the core influences that inform Martial Dance's signature style. The combative kicks, whirling leaps and brandished forearms are clearly taken from martial arts drill, while the floor-work and counter-balanced pairings point to the contemporary connections. White T-shirts versus black T-shirts set the tone: oppositions, a bit of stylised ruck, and a final image of united harmony when black was peeled off to reveal the white underneath.

In Martin Robinson's solo, Yin + Yang, that interaction between the hard-edged, scything energy of martial arts practice and the softer flow of contemporary technique, was explored with a well-honed prowess that extended to spasms of precise body-popping. The "oh, wow!" factor strutted centre-stage. But not so as to eclipse the real power behind Robinson's focused physicality: mind-set. Concentration, discipline, attention to the creative thinking behind the steps all count. It helps, of course, if like Robinson you have the body of a versatile Slinky.

GeneChing

10-20-2008, 09:48 AM

Even more grist. This time, with pic.

Compagnie Heddy Maalem performs Tuesday in FirstWorks Festival (http://www.projo.com/theater/content/artsun-maalem_10-19-08_D8BRR03_v11.1cad73d.html)
01:00 AM EDT on Sunday, October 19, 2008

Compagnie Heddy Maalem interprets Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring on Tuesday at the Providence Performing Arts Center as part of the ongoing FirstWorks Festival.

Film meets dance. Grace meets violence. Compagnie Heddy Maalem performs The Rite of Spring.

The one-hour dance concert, which is Tuesday in the Providence Performing Arts Center, is part of the ongoing FirstWorks Festival. The title is taken from the music for the production, Igor Stravinsky’s 1913 classical composition.

“I perceived a strange connection between this music and the city I found myself in,” said Heddy Maalem, artistic director of his eponymous company.

In 2005, Maalem, a French-Algerian, found himself in Lagos, Nigeria, a society of discord and violence. The inspiration for the piece started there, he said, but didn’t stop there.

The Rite of Spring may be African in appearance, featuring 14 African dancers, but, Maalem said, it’s universal in its application, of beauty both attracting and repelling.

“This dance is a spectacle that’s brought to people by other people, regardless of color. Color is not important. The fact that it is contemporary Africa is not important. It’s a human violence that I’m attempting to portray.”

The portrayal is juxtaposed with film, a series of images created by documentary filmmaker Benoit Dervaux. While the Stravinsky piece was originally composed for ballet and is typically performed to ballet, here the movements are modern and African.

For Maalem, a former boxer and practitioner of the martial art aikido, movement can be beautiful and violent.

“A manifestation of beauty is connected to death.”

You will not see jabs, hooks or uppercuts in The Rite of Spring. Maalem’s boxing background doesn’t inform his dance so directly.

“I’m using the fundamental relationship between the body, time and space.”

Maalem’s switch from boxing to dancing was gradual, starting 30 years ago, with aikido serving as the pivotal transition.

“My eyes began to open to new things. Aikido is philosophy in movement.”

— Bryan Rourke

Heddy Maalem was interviewed through a French/English interpreter, Lydia Beckon, the development director of FirstWorks.

Compagnie Heddy Maalem performs The Rite of Spring on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Providence Performing Arts Center, 220 Weybosset St. The show is preceded by a “JumpStart” show at 6:15 p.m. For tickets, $18 to $38, call (401) 421-2787 or visit www.ppacri.org.

Tomorrow, Compagnie Heddy Maalem conducts a few free community events. From 3 to 4:30 p.m. Hardo Ka, a company member, leads a master dance class, which the public is welcome to watch, at Ashamu Dance Studio, off the main green at Brown University, followed at 4:30 p.m. with Maalem joining Ka in a so-called “meet and greet.” At 7 p.m. in Salomon 101 at Brown University, Maalem will be joined by three Brown professors to discuss his work The Rite of Spring.

GeneChing

10-21-2008, 04:16 PM

Check out LEE/GENDARY—A Review (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=792) by our very own Douglas Ferguson.

doug maverick

10-22-2008, 08:26 AM

glad to see it up there gene. thanks again for the asignment, i didn't expect leegendary to be so good. i wonder if bruce lee the musical will be so good.lol, well my co-choreagrapher Manny brown is part of the choreagraphy team, so while idk about a singing bruce, i know where in for some action on that one.

doug maverick

10-22-2008, 08:31 AM

oh and i also forgot to mention. the pics of "betty ting pei" and of "betty" on top of "lee". were provided by my good friend kelly fung, who is an actress and photographer and another long time student of master Tak Wah Eng. thanks kells

GeneChing

11-06-2008, 04:32 PM

According to what was posted on our calendar (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/news/index.php), there's "evocative drumming, martial arts, dance, tai chi and meditation." That's what I want to do, watch some one meditate. But seriously, it looks interesting and in my own 'hood, but unfortunately I probably won't be able to make it. :(

SOUND OF THE OCEAN by U-THEATRE (http://www.dimensionperfs.org/showDetailsUT.htm)

Experience the show New York Times calls “Mesmerizing and Handsomely Choreographed”

Sound of the Ocean is an intense physical and emotional experience. The work traces the cyclical journey of water from a drop to a stream and from a river to the ocean. Created by Artistic Director Liu Ruo-Yu and Master Drummer Huang Chih-Chun for U-Theatre, this 90-minute production represents a compelling and seamless work of rhythm and movement.

Five Distinct yet beautifully interwoven sections evoke the sounds and sensations of water, its elemental cool surges, gentle ebbs and insistent rat-a-tat-tats. The five are animated by a theatrical tension devoid of explicit narrative. It is propelled by rhythms beat out on temple bells, gongs, and skinned drums of different sizes. The collective expressive power of the group is made possible by the extraordinary technical and athletic prowess of the individual performers. Daring feats of speed and precision create huge dynamic arcs as the piece moves from one section to another.

U-Theatre’s performance of Sound of the Ocean earned the Best of Show award at the Festival d’Avignon in 1998 and, in 2000; U-Theatre accepted the Audience Choice award at the Biennale de la Danse in Lyon. Performances at the Berlin Art Festival Amphitheatre of Sound of the Ocean during August 2003 captivated Berlin theatre-goers. One article proclaimed Sound of the Ocean the “preeminent performance of the week in Berlin Theatre.” Since its premiere in 1998, Sound of the Ocean has been performed more than 120 times around the world, including engagements at the Venice Biennale, Lyon Biennale, Spain’s Millenia Festival, the Sao Paulo Arts Festival, Singapore Arts Festival, Bergen International Festival and BITE:02 at the Barbican, London, Next Wave Festival (BAM) in New York, and the Chekhov International Theatre Festival in Moscow.

GeneChing

11-06-2008, 05:42 PM

Hey check this out! For any of you locals, Gigi Oh, our publisher, just gave me a discount code for Sounds of the Ocean, the show mentioned above. If you order online through the DPA site above, you can get a 30% discount by using the code "TCMEDIA".

If any of you take advantage of this, we'd love to hear your review of the show here!

GeneChing

11-12-2008, 01:01 PM

If anyone goes, don't forget the discount above, and please, give us a post show review here.

From Taiwan, a blend of drumming, martial arts, tai chi, and dance (http://www.mercurynews.com/arts/ci_10965293?nclick_check=1)
By Sheila Melvin
for the Mercury News
Article Launched: 11/12/2008 10:48:43 AM PST

Taiwan's U-Theatre — which will perform "Sound of the Ocean" Saturday at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts — has built an international reputation with its signature blend of drumming, martial arts, tai chi and dance. A regular on the European festival circuit, it travels to the Bay Area from the BAM Next Wave Festival in New York.

But U-Theatre strives to offer its audiences something even more powerful than a mesmerizing performance of drumming and movement: the opportunity for individual transformation and enlightenment.

"During the 90-minute show, you will feel the excitement and energy of the drums," promises Jim Fung, executive director of Dimension Performing Arts, the presenter. "But at the end, you will have a transformative experience and feel the show inside you."

A music drama in five parts, "Sound of the Ocean" is staged without intermission so as to preserve the spell it casts on performers and audience alike. The performers strike temple drums, skin drums and gongs of varying sizes in powerfully choreographed synchronicity and at times chant "om," which in Buddhist cosmology is considered the sound of the universe. For this performance, U-Theatre members are joined by Chiow Yen-Liao on guqin (Chinese zither) and Iki Tadaw, an aboriginal singer from Hualien on the eastern coast of Taiwan.

"Sound of the Ocean" has a minimal story line built around the path of individual drops of water that join together to form a stream, which becomes a river and eventually flows to the ocean. There, in the deepest ocean depths, the individual drops into the realm of the "unknown and unrevealed," a metaphoric reflection of our path through life and death — and, not incidentally, of the ideal theatrical experience.

This may seem a lot to deliver in just an hour and a half of drumming and dance, however powerful, but U-Theatre performers come prepared. Indeed, for founder and artistic director Liu Ruo-yu and music director and composer Huang Chih-chun (who are a married couple), preparation is everything — and it is intense.

U-Theatre members work together in an open-air mountain theater on the outskirts of Taipei, Taiwan's capital.

"We have long rehearsals on the mountain," Liu explains by telephone from New York. "This gives us energy to work together, and it gives us a very ancient spiritual feeling."

Liu's dedication to rehearsing in a natural environment dates back to the 1980s, when she spent a year in Los Angeles under the tutelage of the late Polish theater director Jerzy Grotowski. "Jerzy used candles, fire, dark, lamps . . . We trained from 4 p.m. until 1 a.m. — all the training was in a natural place," Liu explains. "That influenced me a lot; so when I went home, I decided to start my own group and look for a natural place. By luck, my father had just bought a mountain."

Liu and her performers rehearsed on the mountain and traveled around Taiwan to immerse themselves in its rich and varied culture, which encompasses Chinese traditions, Japanese influence and the distinct customs of 14 officially recognized aboriginal tribes. In the mid-1990s, when Huang joined the group as drumming director, they added meditation to their daily practice of drumming, tai chi and dance. "Meditation is asking a person to always be aware of their actions," Liu explains. "We don't teach percussion right away; we teach (theater members) to focus, to feel the quiet — and then to hit the drum. Even though the drums are very loud, people still feel quiet in their minds."

Lou adds that walking is also "a way of meditation for us. We walked around the whole Taiwan island, for 50 days — this helps our inner side to get quiet."

Although it may seem counterintuitive for the leader of a drumming ensemble that gives highly physical — and loud — performances, "quiet" is a word that Liu uses often and a state she says her performers always seek. "When we feel the quietness, we get more clear; we get more aware of our physical side; there's a different feeling, and it helps the performance of the artists."

Liu also hopes that audience members will find their own personal "quiet" in the midst of the excitement of the show. "Usually people say they feel quietness, even though the drums are very loud. Once in Taiwan, somebody saw our drumming and said it is like the center of a typhoon, the eye of a storm."

Once you feel the quiet, the promised transformation becomes possible, although the presenter isn't making any guarantees.

"The level of enlightenment inside each of us will dictate how we feel about this performance," explains Fung, of Dimension Performing Arts.

So, if you come out of the show feeling entertained, but not entirely transformed, do not despair — it just means you have more work to do.

"Sound of the Ocean"

A multimedia show by U-Theatre of Taiwan,presented by Dimension Performing Arts

When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: San Jose Center for the Performing Arts, 255 Almaden Blvd.
Tickets: $30-$55, VIP $100; (408) 568-5861, (408) 260-2206

GeneChing

12-23-2008, 11:02 AM

It's Epoch Times. You know what that means... ;)

Designer Enjoys the DPA Performance (http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/arts-entertainment/dpa-performance-9001.html)
By Omid Ghoreishi
Epoch Times Staff Dec 22, 2008

Divine Performing Arts

HOUSTON—Martial arts teacher, Joseph Tranvan, can appreciate the techniques and art in the Divine Performing Arts (DPA) show.

Tranvan, who saw the DPA 2009 World Tour performance in Houston’s Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, says the customs add a different flavor to the performance, which is not commonly seen in other performing arts such as ballet.

“This is different. It has a nice twist to it because you see modern elements of dance, then you see the traditional,” says Tranvan, who is also a graphics and multimedia designer and a photographer.

“I thought it was great. It had a good universal message of hope,” he says.

“I liked the costumes, they are a little different take on the [Chinese] culture,” he says. Tranvan also enjoyed the classical music and the piano performance.

Peace Activist in Harmony With Themes of DPA Show (http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/arts-entertainment/dpa-show-divine-performing-arts-8999.html)
By James Fish
Epoch Times Staff Dec 22, 2008

Divine Performing Arts

SARASOTA, Fla.—While many people who attended the Divine Performing Arts (DPA) show at Sarasota’s Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Dec. 22 came with no prior exposure to traditional Chinese culture, Cody “Flying Eagle” Templeton came to the Divine Performing Arts show already appreciating Asian culture.

Dr. Templeton, a minister and president of Shunyata-Kai International, an organization dedicated to creating internal peace to bring about world peace, was experienced in dance, martial arts, theater, and knew Asian culture and philosophy.

For him, seeing the DPA show was seeing the enactment of a dream he had more fully than he had been able to realize. He found great harmony between the principles expressed in the show and his own beliefs.

“Inspirational, powerful, very much within the teachings of where our organization is going, with individual peace leading to world peace,” was how Dr. Templeton described his impression of the show.

“I hope in the future more people get to see this show. It is a blending of two different cultures, which I have been trying to do for thirty-nine years. It is very inspirational.”

Dr. Templeton had wanted to use the various aspects of Asian culture in shows of his own.

“A lot of what I look for this show has, with the drums, the colors, the blending of the culture and the dance. I used to be the director of a theater company in New Mexico, and a show like this was what I was trying to produce there.”

When pressed to describe a favorite number, Dr. Templeton picked the Tibetan dances. “I enjoyed them the most because of my Tibetan roots and martial arts backgrounds. But I enjoyed all the dances, the culture. What I saw here was something I lacked in all my kung fu and tai chi training, the dance part. I always wanted to get more into it.

“I loved what they did with the flowers [“Welcoming Spring”] and the silks [“Flowing Sleeves”].

“I loved the references to the eight immortals [figures from traditional Chinese lore] and the Buddha. I loved the whole thing from beginning to end.”

GeneChing

01-05-2009, 10:37 AM

Lee's comments on wushu & dance are exactly what this thread is about.

Chinese New Year Spectacular in S.F., Cupertino (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/04/PKC014SEDQ.DTL&hw=falun+gong&sn=001&sc=1000)
Mary Ellen Hunt
Sunday, January 4, 2009

If ancient Chinese goddesses were modernized to the 21st century, one imagines that they would look a lot like Vina Lee, the tall, fine-featured, elegant choreographer and dancer whose artistry graces the Chinese Classical Divine Performing Arts Company in the troupe's forthcoming performances of the Chinese New Year Spectacular at the War Memorial Opera House and the Flint Center in Cupertino.

Delicately sipping tea one afternoon in the cafe at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum, the soft-spoken yet forthright Lee speaks animatedly about growing up in China and the love for her country's cultural history that colors her view of Chinese dance.

Trained at the Beijing Academy of Dance, Lee studied classical ballet as well as Chinese classical dance and folk dance. In the late 1980s, she danced with the Guangdong Dance Theatre, but a yearning for artistic and political freedom led her to immigrate to Australia, where she taught and danced for several years before becoming a dancer and assistant company manager for the Divine Performing Arts Company and choreographer for its boldly ambitious and enormously popular Chinese New Year Spectacular.

The show - which each year features new entries in a smorgasbord of vignettes - takes viewers on a visually dazzling tour of 5,000 years of Chinese history and culture via bravura displays of acrobatics and grand tales told through flourishes of Chinese classical dance. With hundreds of dancers in two dozen carefully designed, richly costumed pieces - everything from colorful handkerchief dances, Imperial-style dances in high platform shoes, drum dances, folk dances and wushu displays - it's a heady blend of the ancient and modern, of traditional Chinese instruments and their Western counterparts, and contemporary experiences expressed using the formality of Chinese classical dance.

The true traditional Chinese dance, Lee says, blends three crucial elements: the yun or manner of carrying one's body, the technique and the physical forms, such as the positions and combinations of movements used in training martial artists.

Methods of teaching Chinese dance, Lee says, were rarely written down, but although ways of teaching dance may have changed over time, much of the technique and forms have been passed down from generation to generation through wushu training.

"Wushu, or martial arts, used in soft ways is dance, and vice versa," she says. "Martial arts never really changed - it got better, but the style did not change."

The yun, however, is a different story. The way a people comport themselves depends on the culture, and China's culture has evolved vastly since the Communist Revolution and the modernization of its society. Some of what makes Chinese yun, Lee says, has been lost in the process.

"The modern contraction," she says, tightening her midsection into a curve modern dancer Martha Graham would easily recognize, "is very different from the Chinese curve. It is inhale, exhale - that's a different energy."

Without standing up from the cafe table, Lee strikes a subtle but definitely different note, curling and rounding her torso to illustrate what immediately seems - even to an untutored eye - to be a more characteristically Chinese pose, one closer to the graceful statues of goddesses such as Kwan Yin and Ho Hsien-Ku.

"Lots of shows claim to be Chinese dance," Lee says. "It's familiar to Western audiences, but they may wonder, why do they do this movement or that movement? Even lots of dancers are confused as to what is real Chinese dance."

Lee strikes a pose, covering her face flirtatiously with an imaginary fan.

"They may look with the eyes like this," she says, glancing over her fan with a bit of come-hither peekaboo. "But in true Chinese dance, the women are conservative, more shy. They are hiding their faces with the fan," she adds, changing her pose slightly to convey a more delicate sensibility.

Since moving to Australia in 1990, Lee has not been back to China. A practitioner of the spiritual discipline of Falun Gong - a modern form of the ancient qigong practice of meditation and control, whose adherents have been heavily persecuted by the Chinese government in the past decade as a fringe religious sect - Lee has sensed political pressures, even far from her homeland.

Although at first glance the spectacular might look like more of a grand cavalcade of Chinese cultural scenes than a vehicle for a political agenda, some of the show's vignettes have depicted stories that reference hot buttons such as Falun Gong or repression in Tibet. Lee says that in some of the places the company has toured, Chinese officials have attempted to discourage local audiences from attending their shows.

"Because we dare to raise human rights issues, we're a 'Falun Gong show,' " she says. "And if you say 'Falun Gong,' people suddenly become scared.

"Since I was a child, I have always loved the real Chinese culture, but the Chinese government doesn't want the old culture to come back. They want to damage it, not only on the outside, but internally, too."

A return to core principles of traditional Chinese art is what Lee feels sets the Divine Performing Arts Company apart from what Western audiences have come to understand as Chinese dance. The Chinese New Year Spectacular, she says, harks back to a purer form of the Chinese dance, one built upon not just the motions of Chinese dance but also on a respect for divine gifts, virtue, sincerity and good deeds.

"I hope that through our performance that we are deeply connecting with life, not just entertainment," she says. "It's not just Chinese culture. It is the principles all peoples share."

CHINESE NEW YEAR SPECTACULAR: $30-$180. 7:30 p.m. Wed.-Sat. and 2:30 p.m. Wed., Sat. and next Sun. War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco. Also 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13-15 and 2:30 p.m. Jan. 14. Flint Center, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino. (415) 512-7770, www.divineshows. com.

GeneChing

01-08-2009, 10:47 AM

...they sure know how to get press.

Reviving traditional art for the Chinese New Year (http://www.mercurynews.com/arts/ci_11394320?nclick_check=1)
By Andrew Gilbert
for the Mercury News
Posted: 01/08/2009 12:00:00 AM PST

As a child growing up in southern China during the turmoil and brutality of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution, Vina Lee thought her family's forced journey to the countryside was a welcome break from daily life. But targeted for re-education by the Red Guard, her father — a violinist — lost years of his life and his livelihood, a fate suffered by countless artists made suspect by their training and knowledge of both Western and traditional Chinese art forms.

"He was lucky compared to most people. He was sent to the countryside to work in the farm but he didn't lose his life," Lee says.

"For me going to the countryside was like a holiday, but now I realize he was suffering. My parents couldn't tell their children the truth about their lives, because if a child said something to the wrong person they could get them into serious trouble."

As a choreographer steeped in ballet and classical Chinese dance, Lee now challenges China's communist government through her work with Chinese New Year Spectacular, a lavish production that celebrates traditional art forms decimated by the Cultural Revolution. Featuring a full orchestra and more than 50 acrobats, dancers and singers in Technicolor costumes, the globe-trotting show can be seen at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco tonight through Sunday, and opens a three-day run at the Flint Center on Tuesday.

From a stately dance performed in the court of the Manchu emperor to dazzling acrobatic displays portraying warriors battling mythical creatures, Chinese New Year Spectacular presents a rarefied vision of Chinese culture.

"During the Cultural Revolution a lot of the arts were damaged," Lee says. "People lost the connection with our culture. We created this production to present the beauty that was there, and what it should be."

A graduate of the Beijing Academy of Dance, Lee was a principal artist with Guangdong Dance Theatre. After moving to Australia in the late 1980s, she spent many years teaching with the Sydney Dance Company. In 2006 she relocated to New York City, where she became assistant company manager and principal dancer for Divine Performing Arts, the company that produces Chinese New Year Spectacular.

While she trained in Chinese classical dance as a youth, Lee focused on Western ballet instead because she felt that the government often twisted traditional art forms. "Lots of culture had a very strong direction to promote communist ideology, so I naturally refused to do so," Lee says.

But Divine Performing Arts reignited her interest in classical forms. Living in Australia, she often saw Chinese culture presented through a narrow lens, diminished to the lion dance and fireworks. Through her work as a dancer and choreographer, she has helped preserve the essence of traditional Chinese dance, known as the yun, which involves technique, movement and comportment.

While traditional forms and techniques were passed down through the centuries through martial arts wushu training, Lee says that the yun, the physical way that people carry themselves, has been much more vulnerable to the modernization ushered in by the communist revolution, and then again by the economic liberalization of the early 1980s.

"If I show you the traditional Chinese movement, there is lots of internal tension, and that bearing carries a culture," Lee says. "When Chinese raise their arms, it's very different from in the West, because there's a different intention. The way we use contractions is very different from, say, in Martha Graham. It's very subtle, but you can tell if you watch.

"When China opened the door and the communist party allowed everything to come in, we saw lots of contemporary dance. Now we are a great country, and we can learn everything. But some things have been lost. Now they are not showing traditional culture, because it's mixing with contemporary dance."

Chinese New Year Spectacular isn't built around a single narrative. Rather, it unfolds as more than a dozen discrete acts showcasing a wide array of traditions and practices, including Tibetan culture and movements drawn from Falun Gong, the sect that has been denounced and targeted by the Chinese government.

Not surprisingly, the Chinese government has sought to shut down the production in Australia and elsewhere, according to Brisbane's Courier-Mail newspaper.

"We booked a theater, and the management tries to cancel after pressure from the Chinese government," Lee says. "They use the Falun Gong issue. They try to stop the show in any way they can, sending letters to VIPs and government officials in Australia.

"The authorities are so scared that the cultural values being presented will come back. I feel great the production makes them scared."

Chinese New Year Spectacular

When: 7:30 p.m. tonight and Friday, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Ave., San Francisco
Tickets: $30-180. (415) 392-4400, www.sfshow.net.
Also: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and 7:30 p.m. next Thursday, Flint Center for the Performing Arts, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino. $30-80, (408) 864-8816, www.sfshow.net.

GeneChing

02-20-2009, 10:37 AM

Official website for Theatricks (http://www.sideswipepro.com/Theatricks/)

We've discussed trickers (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showpost.php?p=797146&postcount=12). And we'll have something new on Mullins soon.

Theatricks martial arts show at CLC February 20 (http://www.examiner.com/x-1406-Lake-County-Examiner~y2009m2d19-Theatricks-martial-arts-show-at-CLC-February-20)
February 19, 10:53 PM
by Christine Nyholm, Lake County Examiner

On Friday, Feb. 20, an exciting martial arts-based show called “Theatricks” comes to the College of Lake County. In the show, four young boys who aspire to be great martial artists enter the dreamscape world of Theatricks, where dreams come to life in a cabaret of music and action.

The show, which has been seen on TV’s “America’s Got Talent,” is a spectacular combination of gymnastics, acrobatics and martial arts featuring five-time American Karate Champion Matt Mullins.

Mullins’ Sideswipe Performance Team is a martial arts-based group that blends traditional martial arts such as Karate and Tae Kwon Do, with gymnastics and acrobatics, to create an extreme, high-flying display of talent, strength and stamina unlike anything else. Based in Los Angeles, Sideswipe has been entertaining audiences across the country over the last three years, performing on television, stage, at sporting events, live action shows and karate tournaments. For more information about the show and to view photos and videos, visit the Web site.

Tickets for 7:30 pm Show

Tickets for the 7:30 p.m. show are $33/28/24. CLC student tickets are $16 each (level III seating only). Discounts are also provided for seniors 65 and over, CLC Alumni Association members and groups of six or more.

Special Matinee

A special matinee show/workshop for school groups will be held at 11:15 a.m. on Feb. 20, with general admission tickets priced at $11. Ticket prices include a $1 JLC restoration fee. Tickets are available at the CLC Box Office in the James Lumber Center on the Grayslake Campus, 19351 W. Washington St. Tickets can be purchased in person, by phone at (847) 543-2300,. For group sales information, call (847) 543-2739

Upcoming Golden Dragon Show March 20

The Box Office is offering a half-off special for patrons who purchase tickets to the upcoming Golden Dragon Acrobats show on March 20. Patrons will save 50 percent on tickets to Theatricks when they buy Golden Dragon tickets by phone. The limit is two tickets per event, and the offer ends Feb. 19.

The James Lumber Center for the Performing Arts at the College of Lake County serves as a cultural resource center for Lake County and surrounding areas by offering performing arts events of the highest quality. To request a CLC performing arts and cultural events calendar, call (847) 543-2300.

GeneChing

04-20-2009, 09:43 AM

As long as it's not Eye of the Tiger again, I'm pretty amused with any variation to the soundtrack....:rolleyes:

Chillies 2009 to feature martial arts, drums fusion (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=832748)

This year's edition of the much talked about and highly anticipated Sri Lanka Advertising Awards, the Chillies 2009, will be taking entertainment to a whole new level with the goal of defying expectations. Using its theme, "You Can't Kill It", to maximum effect, this year's focus has all along been to ensure performances witnessed at the Chillies 2009 Main Event wow audiences with a dramatic mix of sights and sounds. Most stunning of these by far is the planned fusion of acrobatic martial arts skills by Sri Lanka's Wushu Federation paired with heady drum beats by famed Sri Lankan music maestro Ravi Bandu, both joining togther for the first time to create a performance never before seen on the Sri Lankan stage. This and much more awaits those attending the Chillies 2009 Main Event to be held on Saturday, May 2, from 6.00 p.m. onwards at SLECC.

The first Sri Lankan performance to feature Wushu, also popularly known as Kung Fu, a martial arts style that is over 3,000 years old, this performance which will premiere exclusively at the Chillies 2009 will pull no punches with its spectacular combination of acrobatic displays in tune with frenetic, rhythmic drum beats, all with the sole purpose of capturing and mesmerising the audience in as yet unfathomable ways. At the every least, the Chillies 2009 promises to be a treat for the senses with performances planned to be memorable in the extreme.

With origins in China, Wushu literally translates to mean “Martial" (Wu) and "Arts” (Shu), and is purportedly the first martial art in the world created by man using his scientific knowledge for defensive as well as offensive techniques. Wushu is at the same time highly visual and potentially lethal, with tournaments encompassing both performances and combat facets of Wushu. Counting Asian film star Jet Li as its international ambassador,

Wushu has most notably achieved significant success locally with the Sri Lankan delegation winning four gold medals at the South Asian Federation Games held here in 2002, while several Wushu clubs have also been established, even as far away as Kandy and Trincomalee.

Meanwhile, the formidable task of putting music to Wushu's potentially superhuman feats falls Sri Lankan musician extraordinaire Ravi Bandu. There being none better with him being acclaimed far and wide for his musical artistry and diversity. Whether known for his sensational percussive feats or his oriental dance skills, Ravi Bandu is an all around performance artiste in the truest sense. Well regarded for his significant contributions to local, as well as fusion, music, he is also the man behind the eclectic Ravi Bandu Ensemble, which combines the best of eastern and western music with the help of an acoustic guitarist, a saxophonist, a flautist, a sitarist, a tablist and a keyboard player.

The Chillies 2009 Main Event, on Saturday, May 2, from 6.00 p.m. onwards at SLECC follows Chillies Week 2009, which kicks off with a "Brief to a Grand Prix”, a workshop conducted by Cannes Lion Grand Prix winner Agnello Dias, on Monday, April 20, from 9.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m., at the Longdon Room. The week then continues with "Creativity in Two Worlds", a seminar conducted jointly by creative powerhouses, Dentsu Japan’s Masaka Okamura and JWT India’s Senthil Kumar, on Tuesday, April 21, from 6.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m., at the Upper Crystal Room. Next are the always popular Judges Forum - Print & TV on Wednesday, April 22, from 7.00 p.m. onwards and Judges Forum - Radio & Non Traditional Media on Thursday, April 23 from 7.00 p.m. onwards, both at the Upper Crystal Room. Final learning opportunities include "It doesn’t have to be an Ad", a workshop conducted by former ECD TBWA/ Tequila Singapore and Chief Integrator for Asia, Graham Kelly, on Friday, April 24, from 9.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m., at the Regency Room, and a seminar on "Creativity in tough times", also by Graham Kelly, on Friday, April 24, from 6.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m., at the Upper Crystal Room. Chillies Week 2009 will end with the 2009 Finalists Exhibition slated for Tuesday, April 28, to Thursday, April 30, from 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m., at On Golden Pond. All events, except for the Chillies 2009 Main Event at SLECC, will be held at Taj Samudra Colombo, the official partner hotel for the Chillies 2009.

GeneChing

04-23-2009, 09:17 AM

West
Side
Story

Ballet incorporates swing, martial arts in 'Across the Tracks' (http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20090423/ENTERTAINMENT04/904230303)
Canyon Concert Ballet presents 'Across the Tracks'
By Coloradoan staff • April 23, 2009

Canyon Concert Ballet presents "Across the Tracks," an energetic and eclectic dance production, this weekend at the Lincoln Center.
Advertisement

Part of the Finding Home immigration series - sponsored by local arts group Beet Street - "Across the Tracks" is the tragic story of two teenagers with loyalties to warring ethnic gangs who find themselves falling in love.

Featuring a unique and diverse blend of dance styles, including ballet, jazz, street and social dances, "Across the Tracks" also features fight choreography based on a combination of different martial arts, Artistic Director Jessica V. Freestone said.

Freestone is collaborating with three local choreographers: Adam Yee, a third-degree black belt karate instructor and former dancer with CCB; and Peggy Lyle and Chris McCullough with Fort Collins swing dance troupe The Rhythm Company.

GeneChing

07-27-2009, 10:19 AM

I just got this press release from Soomi Kim

LEE/GENDARY
Dear friends, colleagues and supporters of Lee/gendary,

I am thrilled to announce that Lee/gendary has been nominated for 6 New York Innovative Theater Awards including Outstanding Production!
Coincedentally, the official nomination party fell on the anniversary of Bruce Lee's death, July 20th (Lee died on July 20th, 1973).

Other nominations include:

Outstanding lighting design- LUCRECIA BRICENO
Outstanding director- SUZI TAKAHASHI
Outstanding movement/choreography- AIRON ARMSTRONG AND SOOMI KIM
Outstanding actress in a featured role- CONSTANCE PARNG
Outstanding actress in a lead role- SOOMI KIM
OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION!

The official ceremony will be held in September 2009.
The nominations come from the performance run this past October 2008 held at HERE Arts Center.

Thank you to everyone who has supported and/or stood by this project through its history and journey; you have collectively helped to give Lee/gendary this recognition.

NYITA (or "IT awards) is an amazing organization that supports and shines a much deserved spotlight on the vibrant and vital community of off off broadway productions.

This past year there were over 100 off off broadway shows registered for the NYIT Awards.

http://www.nyitawards.com/anr/2009honorees.asp
http://www.leegendary.com/

Have a GREAT August, stay cool, sexy and creative!

love,

Soomi Kim
creator, producer, performer of Lee/gendary
See LEE/GENDARY - A Review (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=792) by Douglas Ferguson

doug maverick

07-28-2009, 12:40 AM

you beat me to it gene...actually heard about it a week or so ago...but it slept my mind.

GeneChing

07-28-2009, 10:26 AM

...and this was your story. ;)

Better get on the ball.

doug maverick

09-21-2009, 07:40 PM

and lee/gendary picked up two:

best actress for constance prang

and best director.

congrats to soomi and the crew.

happy to write a review for a award winning play. especially since its their favorite review.

doug maverick

09-22-2009, 06:55 AM

it also won outstanding production.

GeneChing

10-30-2009, 09:48 AM

CNAT to perform for local audiences (http://www.nwasianweekly.com/2009/10/cnat-to-perform-for-local-audiences/)
Posted on 29 October 2009
Tags: 2009, Vol 28 No 45 | October 31 - November 6

Founded in 1950, the China National Acrobatic Troupe (CNAT) is the only national level acrobatic performing troupe established under Premier Zhou Enlai after the founding of new China.

CNAT combines tradition with innovation by preserving many traditional styles, but also integrating music, dance, drama, and kungfu, forming countless new programs.

Presently, the CNAT has won 47 gold medals including the Golden Clown award, President Award, and Gold Magic Prize, in a variety of international and domestic competitions.

The CNAT has visited more than 114 countries and regions in the world.

The CNAT consists of an acrobatic training center with a total of 200 performers, a circus, and also the Li Ning Magic Workshop, which is dedicated to the training of magicians. ♦

The CNAT will be performing in Seattle on Oct. 30, Oct. 31, and Nov. 1 at Meany Hall on the University of Washington campus. For more information, visit www.dareacrobats.com. To buy tickets, visit www.aapat.org or call 206-287-9998.
This pic looks very Cirque and very sexually ambiguous
http://nwasianweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/28_45/brief_cnat.jpg

GeneChing

11-19-2009, 01:05 PM

The Return of Pippin?

EWP Musical Merges Hip Hop, Martial Arts (http://www.eastwestmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=389:ewp-musical-merges-hip-hop-martial-arts&catid=61:general)
Wednesday, November 18 2009

Spend your time this weekend with a musical that has it all: anime, hip hop, and a good dose of martial arts.

Still a work in progress, the East West Players will present a 25-minute presentation of the musical on November 20 at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy in Los Angeles. Following the presentation, the audience is invited to a question-and-answer session with the creative team behind the musical.

The working title of the musical is Krunk-Fu Battle Battle, and it tells the story of a teenager who must adjust to a new high school life in Brooklyn after his mother loses her cushy six-figure job on the Upper West Side. After being bullied and seeing his mother working as a fry cook to make ends meet, the teen asks for the guidance of Sir Master Cert to compete for respect and honor in his new home.

"When East West Players produced Pippin in 2008, which utilized anime, hip hop and martial arts, it was a huge success," said producing artistic director Tim Dang. "It showed to us at EWP that there is an interest by audiences to see pop culture aesthetics incorporated and presented with a more traditional theatrical form.”

Krunk-Fu Battle Battle reunites Dang with Jason Tyler Chong and Marc Macalintal, all driving forces behind Pippin’s success.

Established in 1965, East West Players is known by many as the nation’s pre-eminent Asian American theater troupe. Over the years, it has premiered over 100 plays and musicals, and has held over 1,000 readings and workshops. Successful alumni include B.D. Wong, John Lone, Freda Foh Shen, and Roberta Uno.

For more information, you can call the East West Players at (213) 625-7000 or visit the Web site.

GeneChing

12-11-2009, 10:48 AM

Which reminds me, this is completely OT, but I just saw footage of a tofu break. This is where someone breaks a solid object resting on tofu but doesn't splatter the tofu. I always thought that was a myth.

Hong Kong: Ong Yong Lock to dance with "Kung Fu and Tofu" (http://www.webnewswire.com/node/488521)
Submitted by editor on December 11, 2009 - 11:00

Local choreographer and dancer Ong Yong Lock will perform in his latest work, Dance Moves, Kung Fu and Tofu, in January.

The production reviews Ongs two decades in dancing and choreography, which he says have given him more bruises than fame. It will also bring this years Solo Show Series to an end.

Dance Moves, Kung Fu and Tofu is a multi-media production jointly directed by Ong and Chan Chi-wah, with set and costume by Yuen Hon-wai, lighting by Lee Chi-wai, sound by Edmund Leung and visuals by Chris Chan. Ong will also perform some works inspired by classics from choreographers Willy Tsao, Helen Lai, Yuri Ng and Pun Shiu-fai.

Tofu represents Ongs philosophy of life - simple and down-to-earth and with hints of kung fu, the work reflects his enthusiasm and passion for dance. As time passes, my body cannot be replaced nor can it be cloned. Through sweat and ideas, however, I hope the audience can feel every flowing part of me, Ong said.

Ong was a full-time dancer with the Hong Kong Dance Company and the City Contemporary Dance Company. In 2002, he was awarded the Hong Kong Dance Award for his choreography of 4 In. In the same year, he founded Unlock Dancing Plaza and has been its artistic director since then.

Dance Moves, Kung Fu and Tofu is presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. It will be held at 8pm, January 8 and 9, 2010 (Friday and Saturday), and 3pm on January 10 (Sunday) at the Black Box Theatre, Kwai Tsing Theatre. A meet-the-artist session will be held after the performance on January 9.

Tickets priced at $180 are now available at URBTIX outlets. Senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients may have 50% off (limited quotas for CSSA recipients on a first-come, first-served basis). A maximum discount of 20% is offered for group booking. Please refer to the programme leaflet for details.

For enquiries about the programme, call 2268 7323 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/cp. Ticketing enquiries and reservations can be made on 2734 9009 and credit card telephone bookings on 2111 5999. Tickets can also be booked online at www.urbtix.hk.

Yum Cha

12-12-2009, 06:10 PM

West
Side
Story

Gene, when I first saw this thread, Romeo and Juliette first popped into my mind too. Did you get a chance to see the production in Colorado?

GeneChing

02-01-2010, 06:17 PM

Follow the link for a photo gallery.

Dance Review: Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan at the Kennedy Center (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/31/AR2010013101553.html)
By Sarah Kaufman
Monday, February 1, 2010

If you've ever watched tai chi, the relaxed, slow-motion martial art, you know why those languid movements could inspire a dance. Tai chi's inner calm and outer poise, its unhurried elegance and pliable movement can be beautiful and even uplifting to watch.

Set tai chi to Bach, perform it on a stage sopped with water and lit with moonlight, and you have the singularly transporting experience of "Moon Water," performed by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan over the weekend at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater.

Cloud Gate, which calls itself the oldest contemporary dance company in any Chinese-speaking community, got its start in 1972 with an aha moment that makes for a great story: Its founder, Lin Hwai-min, at the time a novelist in his mid-20s, wandered into a dance class one day while enrolled in the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. An epiphany struck: Silent physical expression trumped the written word. Inflamed with his new passion for movement, Lin returned home to Taipei and within a year he had launched a dance troupe.

"Don't ask me why," the diminutive Lin said with a laugh in his dressing room after Friday's performance. "I was crazy."

Now he's an institution. Cloud Gate, named for a 5,000-year-old ritual considered to be China's first dance, has gone on to international renown. That it has not appeared at the Kennedy Center since 1995 is a head-scratcher; that it will return soon ought to be inevitable.

"Moon Water" offers an answer to Western notions of forcefully athletic virtuosity in dance. Here is an aesthetic that strikes universal chords of supreme human achievement and refinement, that represents the ennobling ideals of balance, harmony, spiritual elevation and inner goodness that you find, say, in classical ballet. It does this by drawing on deep wells of Chinese philosophy and cultural history. Watching Cloud Gate, you are gently seduced into rethinking your ideas about dance. On the expressive landscape of the human body, "Moon Water" tells us, there is ever so much more to be discovered.

The piece starts with a long solo that sweeps other examples of the genre firmly to the side: Dancer Tsai Ming-yuan drifts across the stage in a series of tai-chi postures, sinking deep into his hips. Does he have any bones? Or are his insides girded in steel rebar? His joints seem to melt away as he lunges and folds, then, as he is still crouching, a leg will lift, spiral, slice the air around him like a blade and slowly, slowly descend with the weightlessness of tissue. It brought to mind that staple of the ballet gala "The Dying Swan," a solo of great pathos and no small degree of virtuosic flexibility in the arms and upper body.
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Tsai's gradual journey across the vast Eisenhower stage, with its own thrilling measure of rippling energy and quiet intensity, told us something about the absorptive and transformational powers of meditation. And about the mysteries underlying the ancient practice of tai chi, where movement and consciousness entwine, and where serenity is a unique form of power.

We spent 10 or 15 minutes with Tsai as he plunged into those bottomless joints, his effortless focus drawing us deeper and deeper into his realm -- was it heaven? I could be convinced. He was joined by a woman, Huang Pei-hua, his equal in pliant strength but lighter, with an eagle's wingspan. A group of dancers formed around them, as many as 15, and eventually the stage was covered in a film of water, which the dancers sloshed in and sent flying in arcs of silvery droplets. The black backdrop slipped away to reveal angled mirrors, reflecting the wet activity onstage with a slight distortion, as if it were all happening underwater -- an especially poetic stage picture.

And the Bach? I can't say I loved this element of "Moon Water" as much as I did its concept, dancers and set design. Lin chose excerpts from a recording of "Six Suites for Solo Cello" performed by Mischa Maisky, sarabandes, preludes and allemandes. The problem wasn't with the baroque style -- an interesting counterpoint to the Eastern movement-- or the instrument, but the selections: They were overwhelmingly dark and serious, and the whole work had to fight against the accumulated heaviness of sound.

Still, the cello was an evocative choice. I happened to have had a tai chi master at my elbow for Friday's performance (my multitalented older brother, who has studied the form since I was a wee lass roped into practicing "push hands" with him in our back yard). He was struck by the instrument's rich, deep vibration, which to him echoed the internal feeling of "chi," the metaphysical energy that one cultivates in tai chi. Lin, when asked about this later, agreed and added that the cello had a "weight and substance" he liked, as well as a pure and meditative quality of sound.

What is undeniable is that Lin has lit the way to a new vocabulary in dance, one that reaches back to ancient wisdom and ahead to future fruitfulness, with a cool, unforced yet insistent power. Like water. "Moon Water," indeed.

GeneChing

02-23-2010, 10:44 AM

Here's an interesting new show in Oz. Too bad the author had such a negative audience experience.

Kung fooey (http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/kung-fooey-20100223-oujo.html)
LISSA CHRISTOPHER
November 7, 2008

MISS Elizabeth and I roll out of the high-rollers room at Star City Casino as high as kites. It's nearly 8pm and we've been on the lemon, lime and bitters since noon.

We've also been playing roulette and at the last minute decided to put everything we had between us on red 23. Now I'm going to have to sell the cat and the 1986 Mitsubishi Colt and Miss Elizabeth will have to relinquish her first born to the casino licensee first thing in the morning.

But we'll worry about that later. Poem Of Kung Fu: Nine Scrolls is about to start and we don't want to be locked out of the theatre. As it turns out, we needn't have concerned ourselves. We are far from the last to be seated, or indeed unseated and reseated, at this evening's performance.

Hundreds seem to truck in and out of the Star Theatre throughout the show. I've never seen such a perambulatory audience. The ushers, with their torches, are run off their feet keeping up with the wandering masses.

Right up to the closing milliseconds of scroll nine - paradise - a woman is shoving her way along the wrong aisle, apologising sotto voce, shoving her way back out again and into the correct one. It's the same woman who was gazing around the theatre while undertaking an exhaustive excavation of one of her nostrils as the house lights went down.

Unfortunately, Miss Elizabeth and I are in the last two seats on our aisle and if we don't stand up when people try to get past we're at risk of having our toes crushed and our faces trapped between strangers' buttocks. Thus we stand up and sit down every time someone wants to get past. Which is often. Lactic acid and irritation build up in the equal?measure.

Poem Of Kung Fu - which is on its inaugural visit to Australia from its home in Beijing is an unusual production: part martial art, part dance, part poetry. Each scroll involves a short poem read by Australian actor Tony Barry and a dance/kung fu performance. In between, Cherlie Valaray warbles a mercifully short ditty, first in Chinese then in English.

The performers mix flexibility, grace, speed and strength to remarkable effect. Sometimes they move through a sequence so quickly it takes a few moments to absorb the incredible things they've just done with their bodies. Even so, I doubt any of them could perform as many squats into and out of a theatre seat as Miss Elizabeth and I have this evening.

The cast also includes Miao Shuaifeng, a tiny and alarmingly flexible 10-year-old boy. I suspect he's meant to be an endearing element but something about the precocious character he's playing makes me want to put him over my knee and then send him to the naughty corner . . . until he's 30.

I put this uncharitable thinking down to the recent loss of my personal fortune, such as it was, on red 23.

GeneChing

02-26-2010, 10:32 AM

However, I have already date tonight - kung fu practice!

THE LEGENDARY LIONS VS. THE FISTS OF FURY BY MIKE LAI (http://soex.org/Exhibit/80.html)
February 26, 2010 8:00 PM - 12:00 AM
A SPECIAL ONE NIGHT PERFORMANCE

Friday, February 26, 2010
Doors Open: 7:30 pm
Event Starts: 8:00 pm

FREE
*Limited seating available

Join Southern Exposure and Mike Lai for The Legendary Lions vs. the Fists of Fury, a dance-off competition between traditional Chinese lion dancers and Bruce Lee's larger than life sized fists. A contest between the physical performance of traditional, authentic Kung Fu and the showmanship and special effects of contemporary, filmic Kung Fu, the event will feature five sets of battles. M.C. Julian Mocine-McQueen and local judges from the fields of art, Kung Fu and dance along with the audience will determine the winners.

The event features Leung's White Crane Dragon and Lion Dance Association, Ben's Shaolin Kung Fu Lion Dance Team, the Fist of Fury Dance Crew, Scratch DJ and drummer Skins and Needles and MC Julian Mocine-McQueen.

Come celebrate the Chinese New Year with this epic battle!

__________________________________________________ ___________________________
essay by Weston Teruya

Chinese lion dancers bounce across the floor with staccato movements to the beat of drums and cymbal crashes. After sizing up the performance, dancers draped in oversized, disembodied replicas of Bruce Lee’s fists of fury face off against the lion. The sharp response of a turntable needle at a DJ’s fingers accent their array of dynamic moves. The showdown, Mike Lai’s performance piece titled The Legendary Lions Versus the Fists of Fury, matches the acrobatic athleticism of a traditional lion dance against the analog approximations of martial arts movie special effects used by the Bruce Lee dance crew. This kinetic scene, orchestrated by Lai for his solo show at Southern Exposure, seems equal parts America’s Best Dance Crew spectacle, climactic battle between martial arts masters, and nod to the celebratory blessing typically signified by a lion dance. But these points in his referential constellation are only some of the cultural markers he has been drawing down for years as part of his artistic practice. His recombinant performances, centering on the artist (often in the guise of Lee), use Lee’s pop culture versatility to playfully suggest the flexible possibilities of remixed identities.

Lai has a particular affinity for Lee in his Game of Death mode: tightly sheathed in a yellow tracksuit with black stripes running up the sides. In The Legendary Lions Versus the Fists of Fury, the hallmark contrasting stripes immediately identify the disembodied dancing fists as Lee’s. This is Lee from his showdown against basketball legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar, a cinematic scene highlighting Lee’s own cross-cultural resonance. This is also Lee after his tragic death mid–film shoot, in a performance completed by a motley mix of stand-ins, recut stock footage, and his face crudely pasted over some poor wannabe’s unseen mug; his own film emphasizing that fissure between Lee the person and Lee the immortal persona, a character to be assumed by others.

Over time, Lee’s has become an outsized, fantastical identity. His tracksuit, as Lai has suggested, is a superhero cape—hypercolor drag that combines assumed identity and masculine desire. Fans from Ultimate Fighting Championship combatants to the Asiaphiles of the Wu-Tang Clan have paid their respects to Lee. Yet as desire is often intertwined with repulsion, the label “bruce lee” also can be a racial invective. For East Asian American men with similarly lithe body types, the name can be a playground dismissal—a suggestion of chop-socky cartoonishness and broken English. For Lai, being called “bruce lee” by classmates on arrival at high school in the United States stirred mixed feelings: on one hand, the name flattened him, reducing his identity to a celluloid ghost; on the other, it seemed heroic to be viewed as akin to the original Asian stud.

Lai finds ways to both embrace and combat this conflation. With each new cultural iteration of Lee that he imagines, he flips any singular reading of the legendary figure. In a small 2005 performance, Lai took on the image of “The Bride” as performed by Uma Thurman in Kill Bill, vamping in a men’s bathroom mirror in a Lee-inspired tracksuit. Using a cross-racial, gender-bending, temporal collapse, he complicated the fixed premises on which the original icon was built.

For his performance at Southern Exposure, Lai turns to an intracultural dialogue, arranging a battle between living tradition and filmic showmanship. The conflict between older and newer guards arises as a familiar trope in the films Lai references. In Legendary Lions, the competitive pairing leaves open the possibility for triumph and failure for either group. By raising the question of tradition in his larger grouping of referents, Lai undercuts the bedrock of cultural essentialisms, suggesting that their existence is as potentially momentary as any other point of connection. No matter how fierce the dance-off, Lai reminds us of the generative possibilities of a cultural representation like Lee and that they can also be a source of connection, wonder, and play.

GeneChing

03-09-2010, 02:46 PM

See our latest e-zine review: New Life in LAST LIFE (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=888) by our own Douglas Ferguson.

GeneChing

03-22-2010, 01:59 PM

Just got this press release:

Yangtze Repertory Theatre of America to present the American premiere of "Laughing in the Wind: A Cautionary Tale in Martial Arts," based on a novel by Jin Yong, adapted and directed by Joanna Chan.

WHERE AND WHEN:
April 30 to May 23
Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue (at E. 10th Street)
Presented by Yangtze Repertory Theatre of America
Th - Sat at 7:30 PM, Sun at 3:00 PM, additional performance Wed., May 19 at 7:30 pm
$25.00; $20.00 Seniors/Students; TDF accepted. 20% discount for groups of 10 and above.
Box Office 347-574-4369; purchase tickets online at www.theaterforthenewcity.net or reserve by email: office@yangtze-rep-theatre.org
Running time 2 hours plus a 15 minute intermission.
List: THEATER/OFF-OFF BROADWAY
CRITICS ARE INVITED on or after Sunday, May 2.

The play is a martial arts epic with a fighting/kicking ensemble of 18 actors playing 26 speaking parts. It is based on a story about friendship and love, deception and betrayal, ambition and lust for power which was originally titled "Xiao Ao Jiang Hu" when it was published in 1967, and has been variously translated as "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer" and "State of Divinity."

In the story, various parties are vying to recover a scroll that contains a powerful martial arts technique that can propel the owner to premiere leadership, but are eventually outdone by a young lad, Little Fox, who is devoid of all ambitions. The story deals with Little Fox's journey: his development as a swordsman and his witnessing the various intrigues which take place. Many warlords and fighters from six clans lust after the manuscript, among them the leader of a so-called Five Mountains Alliance. Despite the popularity of Jin Yong's novel, the symbolism of the six clans has never been coherently interpreted. The Five Mountains Clan might be taken to be an indirect reference to the five sacred mountains in China. The various clans have also been interpreted as a parody of one people with multiple political systems. Jin wrote, in a 1983 epilogue to his book, that the rival clans in his book personify "political prototypes" he observed in China during the Cultural Revolution, without being specific allegories to any particular persons or groups. He asserted, "Only what is rooted in our common humility can withstand the test of time and have lasting value." The book has been adapted into three major movies ("The Swordsman," 1991; "The Swordsman II," 1992; and "The East is Red," 1993) and a 40-episode TV series ("Laughing in the Wind"). The title "Laughing in the Wind" refers to a piece of music jointly created in friendship by two elderly swordsmen of opposing clans, which eventually leads to their tragic deaths.

Jin's "Xiao Ao Jiang Hu" was originally serialized in his newspaper, the Ming Pao Daily of Hong Kong, as well as in 21 other newspapers in various languages. Its leading characters have sometimes surfaced in political dialogues around the world, with one politician accusing another of acting like Master Yue (hypocritically) or Master Zho (harboring secret ambitions to become dictator).

The Martial Arts genre is a relatively recent literary development in the context of thousands of years of literary tradition in China. Joanna Chan suspects that its unsurpassed popularity, with the recurring them of revenge, may have an impact on the Chinese psyche â€“ an acceptance without question the vengeful spirit of an-eye-for-an-eye, however justified the cause, and a cynicism towards the rule of law.

Joanna Chan originally received permission to adapt Jin Yong's book in 1989 for the International Arts Festival in Hong Kong, while she was Artistic Director of Hong Kong Repertory Theatre. The premiere, performed in Cantonese, was attended by Jin himself.

Now, Yangtze has requested and received permission from Jin Yong to restage the production in New York with different designers, a multi-ethnic cast (Asian, African-American and Caucasian, all martial artists and dancers) and an original score, with bilingual subtitles. The production will be in English, Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese, with Chinese and English subtitles.

GeneChing

03-22-2010, 02:00 PM

see previous post

Fight choreographer is David ChienHui Shen (Taiwan; www.davidshendance.com). Set design is by Yoki Lai (Hong Kong, http://www.yokilai.com). An original score is being created by Sam Su Seng (China). Costume Design is by David ChienHui Shen and Yoki Lai. Lighting Design is by Joyce Liao (Taiwan).

The actors, all martial artists and dancers, are Wayne Chang, Rachel Filsoff, Aki Goto, Zane Hayes, Carl Ka-Ho Li, Ashley Liang, Ajia Maximillian, Phillip Redmond, Adrian Sinclair, Peter Song, Derrick St. Hill, Rashawn Strife, Steven Sun, Stephanie Willing, Sen Yang, Cedric Yau, Sarah Yu and Jie Zhuang.

Jin Yong (the pen name of Louis Cha), a co-founder of Hong Kong's Ming Pao Daily, was author of fifteen Martial Arts novels between 1955 and 1972 and is considered the preeminent writer of the golden age of the Wuxia genre, which extends from the 1960s to the 1980s. The popularity of the genre has caused it to spread to art, comics, films, television, theater and video games. He was born in 1924 and retired from writing in 1972. Most of his works were initially serialized in Honk Kong newspapers, particularly Ming Pao, where he was co-owner and Editor-in-Chief. Beside his Wuxia novels, he has also written many non-fiction works on the history of China and received many honors, including the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1981 and the Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur (1992) and Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2004) from the French government. He served on the Hong Kong Basic Law drafting committee, but resigned in protest after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. He was also part of the Preparatory Committee set up in 1996 to supervise Hong Kong's transition by the Chinese government. He revised and reissued all his major works between 1999 and 2006. As of June 2007, he was studying for his PhD in Oriental Studies (Chinese History) at St. John's College, Cambridge.

Joanna Chan (author/director) co-founded Yangtze Repertory Theatre of America (www.yangtze-rep-theatre.org) in 1992 to produce works for and by Asian artists. Since then, it has become New York's most significant entry point for dramatic works from Chinese-speaking countries and a place of collaboration for artists from various parts of Asia. Her own plays also include the political and controversial drama, "The Soongs: By Dreams Betrayed." Her "One Family One Child One Door," a black comedy on the human cost of China's one-child policy, premiered in 2001 and was revived twice. It was a finalist in the Jane Chambers Playwriting Contest. Chan's 1998 drama, "Crown Ourselves With Roses," has been selected as one of 23 most significant works in Chinese theater in the past 100 years for An Anthology of Modern Chinese Theater to be published by Columbia University Press later this year. An English version of Chan's 1985 drama, "Before the Dawn-Wind Rises," was included in An Oxford Anthology of Chinese Contemporary Drama (1997).

The 60-plus productions she has directed include her own works and classics. Reviewing Chan's "Oedipus Rex" at Sing Sing in 2006, Michael Millius wrote in the (Bedford, NY) Record-Review, "You might think I'd have seen some great theater over the years with my aunt, Michael Strange being married to John Barrymore, or my work with Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Weber as creative director of MCA Music. But still, even after all that, and more than half a century of theatergoing, I was not prepared for the experience of seeing a performance of "Oedipus Rex" by inmates at Sing Sing prison. When written by Sophocles circa 430 B.C. (and considered by the ancient Greeks to be his best work), the author couldn't have imagined how his play would enjoy one of its finest hours 2,500 years later, being rendered by inmates in a maximum-security prison."

David ChienHui Shen (fight choreographer) graduated from the Chinese Cultural University, majoring in Martial Arts with a focus on Tai Chi Chuan. In 1997, he won the gold medal at the National Tai Chi Competition in Taiwan and began his dance career with the Chinese Youth Goodwill Mission, touring 25 cities around Asia in 1991. He danced professionally with the Taipei Folk Dance Troupe from 1991-1997, where in 1992 he choreographed the Martial Arts Suite for the Troupe's special performance "Ode to Chinese Culture" at Lincoln Center. In 1996, Mr. Shen performed the special role of Villain in the Taipei production of the dance drama "The Pea**** Princess" and as "Director" in the opening dance for the "Golden Horse Movie Award"s on Taiwan TV. He was the lead performer in the "History of Taiwanese Jazz Dancing" series, a 6-month series of performances exploring the history of Taiwanese cultural dance. Soon after that he joined the Peggy Wu Jazz Dance Company, where in 1998 he was a member of the first Taiwanese Jazz Dance troupe to be invited to tour mainland China. After performing in "The White Snake Legend," a Chinese drama, at the Taipei Cultural Center in New York in 1999, Mr. Shen moved to the United States to work with the Nai Ni Chen Dance Company, where he performed until 2003 when he joined the Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company. With these and other companies he continues to perform around the world. He currently works as a dancer and choreographer based in New York City. He appeared in "Li, The Last King" with Mabou Mines at PS 122. He is a member of the Executive Board of Yangtze Rep and has appeared in its productions of "Luo Shen," "Forbidden City West" and "Beyond Time and Place." Last fall, he was one of four choreographers featured by Yangtze Rep in "TRACES: Variations In A Foreign Land #10" at Flushing Town Hall. (www.davidshendance.com)

Sam Su Seng (composer) is a noted music producer in Mainland China, a professional lyricist, composer, opera singer and pianist. He also specializes in keyboards and synthesizers. His works "You And I On The Road Of Love" and "The Fish Looking For Love" won prestigious awards for original music composition in China. He has been a television producer for South East TV and Sinovision.

Yoki Lai (set design) has designed sets and costumes in the US, UK, Hong Kong and Japan since 1999 and earned her MFA from Yale School of Drama in 2008. She designed "From Mao to Met" for PBS. She won theÂ Donald and Zorca Oenslager Fellowship Award in Design from Yale School of Drama in 2008, The Asian Cultural Council Fellowship Award in 2007 and two awards from Hong Kong Federation of Drama Societies: Best Set Design in 2006 and Best Make-up & Image Design in 2005. She is currently assisting Santo Loquasto. (http://www.yokilai.com)

Joyce Liao (lighting design) holds an M.F.A. in theatrical lighting design from Ohio University and has designed lighting for operas, musicals, dance and plays in NY and across the country. Her design for "The Caucasian Chalk Circle" won the USITT Peggy Ezekiel Award for Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Design and was included in the World Stage Design 2005 Exhibit in Toronto. Her recent projects include "Soul Of Shaolin" on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre, "King Lear" at the National Black Theatre and "Stella Rising" at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theatre. Her NY credits also include "The Stronger" at ArcLight Theatre, "Handball" at Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, "The Alice Complex" at Cherry Lane Theatre and "Nowadays" at Metropolitan Playhouse.

GeneChing

04-12-2010, 09:31 AM

A Show Born in a Garden, but Not Garden Variety (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/10/arts/dance/10martin.html)
By CLAUDIA LA ROCCO
Published: April 9, 2010

A disclaimer before I review Paige Martin’s “Panorama”: I left 25 minutes before the show’s conclusion.

So did much of Thursday night’s audience — I think, anyway; it was hard to tell, given that we stumbled out of the darkened St. Mark’s Church with only our cellphones to guide us. What followed, we were told, was nearly a half-hour of the same. Then fini.

Thus ended my experience of Back to New York City, the terrific Danspace Project series organized by Juliette Mapp. But let’s rewind a little more than two hours, to 7:45 p.m. on Thursday, when “Panorama,” Ms. Mapp’s final curatorial selection, began outside on the serenely beautiful church grounds.

The audience was herded from the front gates to a side garden. As the daylight faded, dancers rushed about us, their swooping, turning actions increasingly difficult to discern in the gloom. A Led Zeppelin song played. And then it was time to go inside. A logjam formed as the garden emptied of people save for three men, all Shaolin martial artists, driving their bodies through gorgeous, controlled arcs of force.

The logjam’s cause became clear upon entry: each viewer had to ease between two naked performers, Ms. Martin’s version of Marina Abramovic’s “Imponderabilia,” currently on view at the Museum of Modern Art. Once all were inside, the visual art world trappings piled up, with everyone milling around as if at a gallery opening. There were drinks to be had, and some sculpture, including a tall phallic column wrapped in fabric. Cellphone use was welcomed.

Then nothing much happened, for roughly an hour, other than the space’s growing uncomfortably hot. The column was dismantled. Eventually there was about seven minutes of naked noodling on the floor (Sharon Stone would have been impressed), and an also-brief chorus line of engaging topless dancers. Finally a young man delivered a rambling, mumbled speech about light and darkness, ending with (Can you guess?) the blackout.

Things could be said here — about durational art, about the viewer-performer pact, about art world versus performing arts world mores. On paper “Panorama” might add up. In practice? It was sloppy, lightweight, humdrum. I wish I’d stayed outside with the Shaolin guys.

“Panorama” runs through Saturday at Danspace Project, 131 East 10th Street, East Village; (866) 811-4111, danspaceproject.org.
Stay outside with the Shaolin guys or easing between two naked performers, seven minutes of naked noodling on the floor and an also-brief chorus line of engaging topless dancers. Tough choice...:rolleyes:

GeneChing

04-15-2010, 09:49 AM

Cover story: 'Keeper of Fury' kicks off tonight at Cabaret (http://www.chicoer.com/entertainment/ci_14839321)
By KYRA GOTTESMAN - The Buzz
Posted: 04/08/2010 12:00:00 AM PDT

CHICO -- "Keeper of Fury: A Martial Arts Epic" premieres tonight at Chico Cabaret.

Written by local community theater veterans Conan Duch, who also directs the production, and Daniel Penner Cline, "Keeper of Fury" is an original script loosely based on a story by Bruce Lee and James Coburn called "The Silent Flute."

"Keeper of Fury" follows protagonist Korde, and his Id, "Drok," who only the audience can see, as he embarks on a journey through a post-apocalyptic world populated with strange creatures and fraught with danger.

"The story follows the basic hero quest archetype with a few twists. Being that 'Keeper' is in a post-apocalyptic setting, there are a few things one can expect to see: tire armor, a blend of futuristic and pastoral society, mutated monkey people -- called 'fowlers' -- and gypsies -- we call them 'gyptians,'" Conan said. "While this is not a musical, it does have some strong musical elements -- it is an epic after all, and what's an epic without a sweeping soundtrack? -- that help bring the audience into the world the cast and I have created."

Duch, a self-admitted Kung Fu movie fan, wrote "Keeper of Fury," his first foray into script writing, last April with the goal of bringing all the action of his favorite genre of film to the stage.

In June, he met Cline, a script writer and martial arts practitioner, who read the script and together the two revised and fine tuned the product. The pair took the script to Chico Cabaret and the theater company agreed to mount the production.

"I was very excited. I am very excited," Duch said.

With a cast of 27, featuring some of the most noted local character actors, including Sean Green, Granison Crawford, Jessica Smith, Nick Anderson and Richard Cross, "Keeper," says Duch, is an "electrifying adventure of epic proportions."

The production includes no less than 17 martial arts fights, choreographed by Cline and David Robles of Chuck Epperson Dojo as well as some belly dancing, choreographed by Jenn Ward.

"There's a little bit of everything -- action, drama, poignancy and comedy. I truly believe that no one has ever seen anything like this on stage before," said Duch, who is also the production's costumer. "It's really a story about harmonizing the light and dark side of ourselves, using all parts to make ourselves better. The Buddhist term for it is 'walking the middle path' and that about sums it all up.

"Keeper of Fury" contains some swearing, violence and sexual content so it is recommended for mature audiences only.

The show runs at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, through April 24, at the Chico Cabaret, 2201 Pillsbury Road. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Tickets cost $16 in advance or $18 at the door. Senior and student tickets cost $10 on Thursdays. Advanced reserved tickets cost $20 at 895-0245 or at www.chicocabaret.com.

As long as there's belly dancing...;)

GeneChing

04-16-2010, 09:51 AM

Anyone here from Macalester College (http://www.macalester.edu/)?

Martial arts show combines fighting, Shakespeare and bros (http://media.www.themacweekly.com/media/storage/paper1230/news/2010/04/16/TheArts/Martial.Arts.Show.Combines.Fighting.Shakespeare.An d.Bros-3906265.shtml)
By: Daniel Kerwin, Editor In Chief
Issue date: 4/16/10 Section: The Arts

When going through dress rehearsals before a stage production, you wouldn't necessarily expect the success of the rehearsal to be determined by the amount of blood that was shed. But the Macalester Martial Arts Club's martial arts show isn't your average stage production.

"We've gotten through two dress rehearsals so far with only a minimal amount of blood," said Zach Lazar '10, who has been with the club since 2006.

Club president Devon Kristiansen '12 has already lost blood in the pursuit of putting on this year's show. Her arms show the cuts and bruises she has received rehearsing the fight. She has been practicing for the show since February.

You will be able to see the fruit of her work tonight at 10 p.m. on the MGO Stage in the campus center. Although the show is intended to include as much comedy as it does martial arts, Kristiansen's fight with Marius Johansen '13 will be one of the most physical sequences in the show.

The annual martial arts show is the crown jewel of the Macalester Martial Arts Club (MMAC) and is performed every spring with only a single showing.

Commenting on the nature of the show, Lazar said "It's like a musical comedy, only instead of breaking into song we break into fighting each other."

Each year the club writes a new comedic script to base the show around, with this year's theme a take off Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. There is no one title for the show, and as per tradition the posters for the show on campus feature three alternate titles for it. The story line is set in sunny St. Paul and revolves around a rivalry between two families; the Scots, a family of hipsters, and the Tommies, a family of bros.

"I like to think of [the show] as balancing out the political correctness for Macalester for the rest of the year," Kristiansen said.

The show is narrated once again by Kevin Williams '09, creating an effect that makes the show feel similar to a vintage dubbed martial arts film. The plot was described by Kristiansen as being "more of a cohesive, recognizable plot" than past years, and the costumes will be more regulated than past years along the hipster and bro theme; in past years cast members dressed however they pleased without regard to their particular role in the show.

"It helps people remember who's on what side," said Kristiansen in regard to this year's coordinated costuming.

The show incorporates many different styles of martial arts, including Muay Thai, Capoeira, Brazilian jiujitsu, Tae Kwon Do and even Drunken Boxing (which is apparently a distinct martial arts style). There are also a variety of weapons used in the performance, though their use is toned down to minimize the risk of injury during the performance.

This year's show will present a lot of fresh talent that is in the club. Last year 12 of the of the club's 18 members were seniors, but a large freshman class this year has provided a necessary boost after losing so many of the club's former members.

"From the time I joined the club it was dominated by the class of 2009… fortunately the large freshman class has provided ample new talent and we've been able to keep our numbers high," Lazar said.

Some of the current freshmen became interested in the club after seeing the show during a prospective student sampler last spring, and this year's show is also during a sampler weekend.

Besides putting on the show, the Macalester Martial Arts Club (MMAC) hosts classes in six different styles of martial arts. Five of the classes are student taught, but the Wednesday night karate class is taught by professional instructors. Classes are held both in the Leonard Center and 10K. Part of the purpose of the show is to raise the visibility of the club on campus. Anyone who likes what they see and wants to try it out is encouraged to contact Kristiansen to learn more about the club.

"We're always looking for new members any time of the year," Kristiansen said.

So whether you're a fan of martial arts or simply just comedy, or just are excited by the possibility of seeing blood, don't miss the chance to see the martial arts show tonight.

GeneChing

08-13-2010, 09:58 AM

Hidden dragon (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/hidden-dragon/story-e6frg8n6-1225903915619)
* Ashleigh Wilson
* From: The Australian
* August 14, 2010 12:00AM

THERE'S a chill in the air. Everyone can feel it. It's always cool at this time of year at CarriageWorks, the contemporary arts space in inner Sydney, and this cavernous room isn't bucking the trend.

The crew is watching Wang Fei, the petite acrobatic rocket in the centre of the room, who slashes her sword and leaps in the air and slashes the sword again. There's movement all around as others kick, spin, cartwheel and slide in a dizzy combination of dance and physical combat.

Considering what's at stake, the long morning warm-ups are important. "If Wang Fei pulls a muscle," says director Rachael Swain, "she can't be replaced."

Wang looks relaxed. These sessions have been intense, but it seems they're nothing she can't handle. At 23 she's already a martial arts veteran, having competed at elite levels of a discipline called wushu for more than a decade and developed an expertise in tai chi, which she practises twice daily. These skills are now being directed towards an acting career in television and film and whatever else comes up, such as this demanding hybrid performance taking shape around her.

Not that you'd know it from looking at her. Certainly pretty, charming and fit, but gentle, small and physically unimposing.

She smiles. "You look at them," she says of martial arts experts, "and they look skinny and small but actually they are very strong."

There was something about Wang, too, that appealed to Swain, the co-artistic director of Stalker Theatre Company, a physical theatre organisation based in Sydney. The casting process for her new production, Shanghai Lady Killer, took two years. Eventually she chose Wang to play the central role in the show, which will have its premiere at the Brisbane Festival in September. The show, commissioned by the Brisbane and Melbourne festivals, will be seen in Melbourne next year and also tour Europe.

For Wang, who has starred in a film produced by Jackie Chan, the show is an opportunity to develop her acting and expose her talents to a wider audience. For Swain, her presence brings an elusive intensity to the show.

"The reason I chose her was that she accesses power in her body in a way that's really different to Western physical performers," Swain says. "She has this amazing fluid power in the way she performs martial arts, but also a real passion."

Written by Australian filmmaker Tony Ayres, Shanghai Lady Killer is the first time the company has used martial arts as a central element in one of its productions. It seems almost inevitable for Swain, a former fencing champion who gave up the sport "cold turkey" before the Barcelona Olympics to apply herself to the performing arts. "I think I always had a bit of an unrequited sword-fighting epic waiting to come out."

Shanghai Lady Killer is a genre piece that draws on film noir and wuxia, a Chinese martial art fiction style as seen in the films Kill Bill and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The setting is Sydney in the near future: China has become the global superpower and an Australian detective is hired to track down a Chinese assassin targeting a Shanghai-born Australian mayor. But he falls in love with the assassin, forcing him to decide whether to bring her to justice. Meanwhile, the mayor's wife emerges as an influential force. "It's very much a piece about female power in multiple forms," Swain says.

Wang is one of two martial arts experts in the 13-member cast, and the only one brought in from China. The others include circus performers, dancers and actors.

Wang came to Swain's attention after she appeared in Wushu, a 2008 film produced by Chan and featuring Hong Kong action star Sammo Hung. The Mandarin-language film follows a group of wushu students who grew up together in a martial arts academy in China.

"The story of Wushu the movie, it's like my experience growing up," Wang says.

Born in Beijing, Wang started wushu training at the age of nine. She quickly developed a talent for it, leaving her family and friends to train full-time at a wushu academy two hours from home. She remained there for seven years, winning gold at a world wushu championship in Henan province, among other accolades.

"If you learn wushu, it's good for your body, your heart," says Wang, speaking through one of the performers, who has been brought aside to act as a translator.

It has also been helpful for her ambitions as an actor. Her first roles were supporting parts in Chinese television before she was cast in a starring role in the action film. She says she was drawn to Shanghai Lady Killer because it gave her a chance to try her hand at contemporary dance.

After the show she will return to Beijing to appear in a Chinese television series. From there, she would like to work on more films. She wants to "to try all different kinds of characters in movies", she says, "not just martial arts".

"I'm here to do this show, and while I'm doing it, I want to learn more English and let more Australian people know about Wang Fei," she says.

"After this one, maybe some director in Australia will want me back for an Australian film. But I will try my best for Australian audiences. Hopefully they'll like the show. Hopefully they'll like me."

Shanghai Lady Killer opens at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre on September 23 as part of the Brisbane Festival, which opens on September 4.
We remember Wang Fei from Wushu (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48825).
http://resources1.news.com.au/images/2010/08/12/1225904/276365-wang-fei.jpg

GeneChing

09-30-2010, 09:32 AM

If there can be Shaolin at the Circus (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56809), why not at Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey?

Kung Fu Kings (http://www.ringling.com/FlashSubContent.aspx?id=44556&parentID=1066&assetFolderID=1154)

Audience members will think they are watching a Kung Fu movie when they see Sun Junjie and Qin Guojing in Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® IlluscinationSM. These Kung Fu Kings use their minds over matter to twist solid steel rods around their bodies and only using his sense of hearing, Sun dives through hoops of razor-sharp swords blindfolded!

Both experts in the Far East discipline, the two began training at famous martial arts schools in China at a young age. With over 15 years of training the two were revered as the best martial arts performers in their school. While practicing at their school in Shan Dong, they caught the eye of current troupe leader Wu Hsiung who began performing the awe-inspiring act in 1976.

“I saw Sun and Qin perform and they had really good potential. They had won several awards so I took both of them to train them to be my protégé,” explains Wu.

From 2004 to 2009, Sun and Qin were under the tutelage of Master Wu learning how to mix their natural strength with their skills in martial arts so that the torch could be passed to them.

Making their debut with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, the two are excited to be able to share their extraordinary talents with Children Of All Ages. “We heard about the Ringling Bros. circus in China and how famous it is, so to be able to be a part of this brand new show is very honoring,” states Sun.

GeneChing

11-11-2010, 10:34 AM

Are there any members from NZ here?

New show is fusion of martial art and theatre (http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/central-leader/4334382/New-show-is-fusion-of-martial-art-and-theatre)
CARLY TAWHIAO - Central Leader
Last updated 05:00 12/11/2010

http://static2.stuff.co.nz/1289439482/852/4334852.jpg
AIR TIME: Xu Han (left) & Mitchell Kwan demonstrate a Kung Fu move

Willie Ying may make wushu look effortless, especially when he's attached to wires and pulleys, but it's something he does not take lightly.

"Wu means military and shu means skill. There are so many kinds of martial arts but this is the mother of them," he says.

The 35-year-old Mt Roskill resident is on a mission to share his passion for wushu by providing a free and entertaining one-off theatre show called China Genesis.

"We want people to know what is behind wushu and what they can do with it, by showcasing what we can do," he says.

"The story is based on the traditional Chinese philosophy yin and yang and involves wushu martial arts, stunts, drama and wire works. It physically expresses out how yin and yang formed at the beginning of the time in China.

"The most important goal is to entertain the audience in a different way. My other goal is to innovate a new look for the martial arts industry as well as the drama and acting industry in New Zealand," Mr Ying says.

"I love it. It's like art to me and I'm working hard to let people know about it. It's something I want to do for the rest of my life."

The producer and director has enlisted Xu Han and Mitchell Kwan from his wushu team, Dragon Origin, to be lead characters in the show.

Mr Han has been studying martial arts for more than half his life and is a graduate of Beijing Sports University.

"It's very good for your health and character," the 21-year-old says.

"It also helped to teach me the philosophy behind Chinese culture. I hope more people get to know about wushu and its culture."

The 18-year-old Mr Kwan perfects his weaponry skills in wushu when he is not studying at Auckland University.

"For me, it's more of an art form than a sport.

"I like its emphasis on acrobatics and the beautiful fluidity of movement," he says.

"This is the first of its kind. It's a fusion of martial arts theatre and storytelling so there will be something for everyone."

Dragon Origin will perform China Genesis this Sunday at the Freemans Bay Community Centre, 52 Hepburn St, Freemans Bay.

The two-hour show starts at 6.30pm.

Visit www.dragonorigin. co.nz or call 021-1069- 566 for more information.

GeneChing

01-12-2011, 03:41 PM

Martial Arts and the Actor's Craft (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=941)by Lewis Manalo

GeneChing

01-20-2011, 03:20 PM

I wish there was some sample humor, so we could get a taste.

Comedian incorporates martial arts in sketch (http://auburnpub.com/entertainment/article_2ef2af64-2424-11e0-8384-001cc4c002e0.html)
Nate Robson The Citizen AuburnPub.com | Posted: Thursday, January 20, 2011 3:15 am

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com/auburnpub.com/content/tncms/assets/editorial/2/2b/6c0/22b6c0a0-2424-11e0-bce7-001cc4c002e0-revisions/4d3774244944e.preview-300.jpg
Comedian Dylan Brody will perform at APT this weekend.

What: Dylan Brody: “More Arts, Less Martial”
When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Jan 21 and 22, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 23
Where: Auburn Public Theater, 108 Genesee St., Auburn.

Cost: $20; Tickets available at the door, at the boxoffice or online at www.auburnpublictheater.org

One man’s hodgepodge of martial arts, storytelling and comedy will be the basis of his one-man show at Auburn Public Theater titled “More Arts, Less Martial.”

Comedian and storyteller Dylan Brody will expose audience members to some of the concepts of martial arts while discussing how those concepts came into play during colorful incidents throughout his life.

Many of the stories and life experiences that Brody will share build off of each other, and include elements of comedy while also being somewhat insightful.

Brody’s story begins as a young, unathletic, bullied child looking to martial arts and examines how he applies life lessons learned through his studies and other experiences to some of the situations he encounters throughout life.

“As one becomes more advanced (in martial arts), it is expected that one will share their knowledge,” said Brody, who is a tae kwon do master in addition to a comedian and writer. “You can never study just for yourself. I feel I can bring the ideas (of martial arts) to a wider audience using my writing and storytelling abilities as opposed to opening my own studio.”

“Also, that means I would have to teach children, and I don’t like children,” Brody quipped.

Carey Eidel, the theater’s executive director, said Brody’s comedic background includes writing an Austin Powers Super Bowl ad and monologue for Jay Leno’s “The Tonight Show.” Brody has also shared the stage with comedians such as Adam Sandler, Jeff Foxworthy and Jerry Seinfeld.

But the appeal of Brody’s show is that it extends beyond the basic stand-up act, Eidel added.

“It’s like stand-up comedy, but with a little more depth,” Eidel said. “Not only is he entertaining, his writing is strong in that it makes us look at our lives and how we conquer adversity. He talks about being a better artist than martial artist.”

“Auburn Public Theater strives to bring quality entertainment to Auburn. We often try to think outside the box when trying to raise the bar, and this is one of those chances to see someone who you might not have heard of, but is at the top of their craft.”

Brody’s appearance in Auburn will mark the first time he has performed the show on the East Coast.

Brody’s first showing of “More Arts, Less Martial” occurred nearly three years ago at the Story Salon in Los Angeles.

Brody, who lived in eastern New York as a child, said he looks forward to returning to upstate New York.

“I missed the weather, I missed freezing my (butt) off.” Brody said. “I miss the smell of the east, the sound of snow crunching under my feet. I like fall too, so maybe I should have come back then. But any chance I get to come back to New England ... it’s nostalgia from my childhood world.”

GeneChing

03-04-2011, 10:37 AM

This looks fun. Love the pics.

"Songjiang" martial art performed in Taiwan
English.news.cn 2011-03-04 10:04:31

Actors perform during a news conference of 'songjiang' martial art array, a kind of folk performance featuring the character of Chinese kungfu and traditional art, on a plaza in Taipei, southeast China's Taiwan, March 3, 2011. The 'songjiang' martial art array activity, which is usually performed by 36 or 72 persons, has a history of more than 400 years. It originated in the coastal area of southeast China's Fujian Province. As an important festival activity of Taiwan, the folk performance will be held in Neimen of Kaohsiung of southeast China's Taiwan on March 12. (Xinhua)(mcg)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/photo/2011-03/04/13760695_161n.jpg
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/photo/2011-03/04/13760695_171n.jpg
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/photo/2011-03/04/13760695_181n.jpg
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/photo/2011-03/04/13760695_191n.jpg
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/photo/2011-03/04/13760695_201n.jpg

GeneChing

03-07-2011, 11:01 AM

I was torn about posting this here or on the Bollywood thread. (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48576)

Martial arts and meditation come to Indian theatre (http://www.sify.com/news/martial-arts-and-meditation-come-to-indian-theatre-news-national-ldgmufcacge.html)
Martial arts and meditation come to Indian theatre
2011-03-06 12:20:00

Chandigarh, March 6 (IANS) At first sight, martial arts and meditation may seem activities that are miles apart from theatre performances but an on-stage experiment by the department of Indian theatre at Panjab University here is trying to build on the commonality they share.

'People might find it surprising but if you know theatre, you understand the underlying similarities between the two,' department chairperson and noted theatre personality Neelam Mansingh Chowdhary told IANS.

Chowdhary, who has directed nearly 30 plays and was conferred a Padma Shri for her contribution to Indian theatre, said: 'Martial art teaches alertness, working with objects around, relationship with space, balancing, flexibility and risk taking ability. All these qualities are a must for a good theatre artist.'

At a workshop in the department, which has been the learning ground for leading actors like Anupam Kher, Poonam Dhillon, Kirron Kher, and Satish Kaushik, students learned Manipuri martial art 'Thang-ta' and Chinese meditation form 'Tai Chi' from S. Biswajit Singh, who has been into this art for over three decades, to better their performance.

During the 10-day workshop, students were taught sword and stick fighting, the art of defending themselves, the warrior dance, exercises for mental peace and stability and physical balancing.

On the unique combination of 'Thang-ta, Tai Chi and Theatre', Biswajit Singh said: 'The two traditional forms widen the possibilities physically and in the performance. It brings in more flexibility and energy and this, in turn, helps to polish the skills of an actor.'

The experience has left participants yearning for more.

Krishan Kumar, a final year student, said: 'We never thought we will get to learn such things. The experience was amazing. We could not imagine that being an actor, we will be taught such good fighting skills.'

Himanshu Dwivedi, a research scholar at the department, told IANS: 'Synchronization of three things is most important for an artist when he performs - body, voice and mind. A good performance is a result of the perfect management of these three and this is what Biswajit Singh's lessons instilled in us.'

The sessions were an 'experience of a lifetime' and these skills will make them 'even better performers', he said.

Indian theatre traces its origin back to about 5,000 years and now it has evolved into a full-fledged career option for students.

Giving a platform to learn all aspects of the subject, the theatre department at PU offers a masters degree. It has 24 students, all of whom participated in the event.

Students passing out from the department find jobs in acting, direction, production and other aspects of films, television and theatre.

ghostexorcist

03-15-2011, 08:14 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmlkmVoPuQA&feature=player_embedded

Wushu comps could learn from this.
I just now saw this on another website. I came over here to post it, but you beat me to it. I thought the mix of the movie screen and the actor was interesting.

GeneChing

03-17-2011, 09:53 AM

It's a new play by Taiwanese stage director Wang Chia-ming. I posted it on our Bruce Lee Memorials thread here (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1084098#post1084098).

Cool post, Xiao3 Meng4.

GeneChing

03-21-2011, 12:19 PM

I just heard from Dylan Brody (see More Arts, Less Martial (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1073761#post1073761)). He is coming to San Francisco's Punchline (http://www.livenation.com/Punch-Line-Comedy-Club-San-Francisco-tickets-San-Francisco/venue/229425) on Tuesday Apr 12 (08:00 PM) with a show called "Contagious Calm" (http://www.livenation.com/Dylan-Brody-tickets/artist/1558862). He tells me it's a slightly altered version of the same show. :cool:

GeneChing

06-20-2011, 02:52 PM

Remember lite-up numbchuks (http://www.martialartsmart.com/weapons-nunchakus.html)? :rolleyes:

Monday, June 20, 2011; Posted: 10:06 AM - by BWW News Desk

"ILLUMINATE: A Martial Arts Experience" a live show at the Capital Fringe Festival
http://images.broadwayworld.com/columnpic3/2249470Screenshot2011-06-20at10.37.24AM1.jpg

About the show:
Conflict, enlightenment... and glowing weapons. See martial artists strike, dodge, jump, break, and battle in the dark with LED equipment. Enjoy live drumming, original music, and comedy. Witness a hero's walk from student to master.

Specific details:

Who: A group of black belts (and friends) who have trained together for over 20 years in Maryland. Four brothers in the group, as well as a firefighter, teacher, comic artist, and computer programmer. Cast: Brad Lust, Charles Shryock IV, John Shryock, Jamie Noguchi, Nick Oben, Michael Stahly, Zach Stahly

Where: Warehouse Theater • 645 New York Ave., NW • Washington, DC 20001 www.warehousetheater.com • 202-783-3933 • Located near intersection of 7th NW and K St NW., across from the Washington Convention Center. METRO: MT. VERNON SQ. (Green/Yellow Lines): 1 Block - walk south on 7th St. METRO: GALLERY PLACE - Chinatown Exit (Red/Green/Yellow Lines): 4 Blocks - walk north on 7th St.

When: Tuesday July 12 @ 6pm • Friday July 15 @ 8pm • Sunday July 17 @ 9:15pm • Saturday July 23 @ 4:15pm • Sunday July 24 @ Noon

Tickets: Tickets cost $17 and can be bought online at CapitalFringe.org or by calling 866-811- 4111.

About Capital Fringe:

Fringe Box Office and Headquarters: 607 NEW YORK AVE., NW, WDC 20001
Fringe Website and Email: CAPITALFRINGE.ORG INFO@CAPITALFRINGE.ORG 202.737.7230

Capital Fringe is a nonprofit organization founded in the summer of 2005 with the purpose of infusing energy into performing arts in the Washington, DC region through our yearly Fringe Festival and year-round Fringe Training Factory. Our mission is to connect exploratory artists with adventurous audiences by creating outlets and spaces for creative, cutting-edge, and contemporary performance in the District. Capital Fringe's vital programs ensure the growth and continued health of the local and regional performing arts community by helping artists become independent producers while stimulating the vibrant cultural landscape in our city.

Capital Fringe is supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Corina Higginson Trust, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, Weissburg Foundation, Dreyfus Foundation, PEPCO Holdings, MARPAT, Washington Post Company, PNC Bank, WAMU as well as invaluable support from our Fringe Family of Donors.

GeneChing

07-14-2011, 09:38 AM

Been there, done that. I'm not sure bricks know fear...

Capital Fringe Festival: ‘Illuminate: A Martial Arts Experience’ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/performing-arts/illuminate-a-martial-arts-experience,1209756/critic-review.html#reviewNum1)
By Celia Wren
Wednesday, July 13, 2011

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/cityguide/images/illuminate200.jpg

Let there be light — and flying snap kicks. That might be the motto of “Illuminate: A Martial Arts Experience,” an entertaining showcase of Eastern fighting techniques, executed in the dark by black belts wearing LED lights on their hands and feet. Souped up with glowing weaponry, the ghost of a “Karate Kid”-type story line and gnomic voice-overs (“Your hand should not fear the brick; the brick should fear your hand”), this unusual Fringe selection offers an opportunity to see a whirling nunchaku that’s as eerily luminous as Luke Skywalker’s light saber.

“These feats are not to be tried at home,” a voice intones at the start of “Illuminate,” devised and performed by seven local martial artists trained in tang soo do, jujitsu and other disciplines. The prudent disclaimer ushers in a perfunctory skit about a 98-pound weakling who gets beat up by bullies and then, presumably — narrative clarity is not “Illuminate’s” strong suit — goes on to study under a martial-arts master.

But who cares about the story? The stage lights have dimmed, and the Warehouse Theater is awash in blue, green and purple neon swirls, as kicks and punches rocket in all directions to a soundtrack of live drumming and recorded percussive, Eastern-flavored music. (Director and producer Johnny Shryock is composer and sound designer.) The cast spars, performs kata (choreographed routines in which martial artists battle invisible opponents) and demonstrates a range of combative practices, including Philippine stick fighting and choking attackers with an ordinary belt. A glowing rope dart (a kung-fu-style weapon) looks stunning as it moves like a pyrotechnic pinwheel.

Serious martial-arts enthusiasts might find that the dim lighting makes it impossible to appreciate the nuances of the performers’ techniques. But as a sensory-rich production for general audiences, this hour-long show packs a punch.

GeneChing

08-15-2011, 10:21 AM

Kung-Fu Beach Party, a Musical (http://www.andyssummerplayhouse.org/?page_id=3)

There’s something fishy happening at the Puddle Pad: The Hippest Place on Earth, home to the Battle of the Beach Bands, and one undercover cop named Kung-Fu needs to find out what it is. Can you dig it?

August 12th, 13th, 17th, 18th, and 19th at 7:30pm

August 14th a 2:00pm

August 20th at 6:30pm Theater by children...

GeneChing

08-29-2011, 04:46 PM

Now touring with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey

Kung Fu Kings (http://www.ringling.com/FlashSubContent.aspx?id=44556&parentID=1066&assetFolderID=1154)

Highlights:

Sun Junjie and Qin Guojing have trained at famous martial arts schools in China since they were young.
Sun and Qin were handpicked by leader Wu Hsiung to take over this awe-inspiring act.
Sun and Qin have over 15 years of training in martial arts and have won several awards in various competitions.

Audience members will think they are watching a Kung Fu movie when they see Sun Junjie and Qin Guojing in Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Presents ZING ZANG ZOOM®, Gold Edition. These Kung Fu Kings use their minds over matter to twist solid steel rods around their bodies and only using his sense of hearing, Sun dives through hoops of razor-sharp swords blindfolded!

Both experts in the Far East discipline, the two began training at famous martial arts schools in China at a young age. With over 15 years of training the two were revered as the best martial arts performers in their school. While practicing at their school in Shan Dong, they caught the eye of current troupe leader Wu Hsiung who began performing a version the awe-inspiring act in 1976.

“I saw Sun and Qin perform and they had really good potential. They had won several awards so I took both of them to train them to be my protégé,” explains Wu.

From 2004 to 2009, Sun and Qin were under the tutelage of Master Wu learning how to mix their natural strength with their skills in martial arts so that the torch could be passed to them.

Making their debut with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, the two are excited to be able to share their extraordinary talents with Children Of All Ages. “We heard about the Ringling Bros. circus in China and how famous it is, so to be able to be a part of this brand new show is very honoring,” states Sun.

GeneChing

08-30-2011, 04:49 PM

There's a vid if you follow the link. This is in collaboration with Kei Lun Martial Arts and Enshin Karate, South San Francisco Dojo

Welcome to www.lenoraleedance.com! Here you can get all the current information on Lenora Lee Dance, and Lenora's work as a dancer, choreographer and artistic director of interdisciplinary collaborations. Right now, she and her team are working intensively on her upcoming work "Reflections" set for premiere performances in San Francisco at CounterPULSE September 8-11, 2011 and New York as part of White Wave's Wave Rising Series October 19 - 23, 2011. Read below for more details!

ABOUT "Reflections"

CounterPULSE has generously included me in their Artist Residency Commissioning Program this summer to develop and premiere this work September 8- 11, 2011. Asian Improv aRts, API Cultural Center and the Chinese Historical Society of America Museum will also serve as co-presenters of the piece. With "Reflections" I will further my collaboration with media designer Olivia Ting, composer Francis Wong, and poet Genny Lim. I will also work with martial arts consultants Raymond Fong and Corey Chan, videographer/ dance filmmaker Ben Estabrook, and a company of five dancers for one of my most ambitious works to date.

"Reflections" is inspired by the journey to my paternal grandfather's ancestral village of Hanghai Foon in Toisan County, Guandong Province, China. Cheuck Lee, my grandfather, had immigrated to the U.S. through theAngel Island in 1922. After he was able to earn enough money he returned to China and built the first two-story house in the village. In 1997, venturing through a labyrinth of contacts and happenstances, I finally found myself standing in front of the gate of the house. Peering through the gate, in the dimness, I saw pictures of my father's siblings and their families on the brick wall. I was home.

In this house, I found the tangible legacy of my grandfather's contribution to our family history in America and to his home village in China. And as such, it represents the hopes, dreams and goals of so many emigrants/immigrants who struggle to make a better life for their families in the face of an extremely prejudiced environment. Utilizing photos and journals from the trip as well as recollections of the family history as source material, my collaborators and I will create a piece that shares this story and humanizes the experiences and ultimate contributions by our forbears.

In honoring my grandfather's efforts to achieve dignity and self-realization in his time I also wish to address today's challenges for Chinese men facing assimilationist pressures in our mainstream American culture. I hope to explore the issues that are the result through the use of martial arts in addition to dance as movement vocabulary. The project will also utilize video projection to bring light to the intimacies of the martial arts forms and breath, making visible the dynamism and subtlety intrinsic to the forms. These forms will represent a symbolic language for struggle, identity, and a journey through emotional landscapes. In this way I hope that the piece will be a moving tribute to our forebears as well as a means toward healing in our communities during these complex times.

GeneChing

09-08-2011, 03:49 PM

In the tradition of Beautiful Boxer (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36848).

A spectacle that packs a punch
Ekachai Uekrongtham returns to Singapore theatre with less talk and more action (http://www.todayonline.com/Entertainment/Arts/EDC110905-0000179/A-spectacle-that-packs-a-punch)
by Mayo Martin
04:45 AM Sep 05, 2011
HAS Ekachai Uekrongtham turned his back on Singapore theatre?

After all, it's been a long time since local theatre scene's adopted Thai son has actually helmed a homegrown play. These days, the founding artistic director of Action Theatre has been seemingly content letting others direct his company's shows as he sits comfortably in the back as producer.

When he does decide to direct, it's been either for movies like Pleasure Factory, The Coffin and The Wedding Game - or musicals that are in an alien language that we don't get the chance to see, like 2010's Thai musical Breathe.

So it's a pleasant surprise to learn that the man who directed Chang & Eng and Ka-Ra-You-OK? is back in these shores helming a new production. It's a non-verbal theatrical spectacle that's set to combine the physical flair of Muay Thai or Thai kickboxing and street dancing.

After making its premiere in Bangkok a couple of months ago, Boxing Boys! hits our shores next month courtesy of MediaCorp VizPro International. It will feature a cast of 17, which includes real-life kickboxing champs and street dancers, and will incorporate Thai elements such as Khon (traditional masked dance), Likay (folk dance) and Nang Yai (shadow puppetry) - all tied together by a story about love and friendship.

No talk, action only

Speaking on the phone from Bangkok - while eating mangoes, apparently - Uekrongtham said he's been shuttling back and forth between Singapore and Thailand more often than we thought.

"But I guess I haven't been directing anything so people don't hear much from me," he said, adding that he might possibly be doing another Singapore project. "I'm looking for a play or theatre piece that I would like to work on. I think I've found it but I can't talk about it just yet."

With a concentration of movies in recent years, such as The Coffin (2007) and Pleasure Factory (2008), Uekrongtham's last stage production was Breathe (2010), the first time he'd done a Thai musical.

"I had never done a theatre piece in Thai before and I liked the process. It was really great fun for me," he shared.

Breathe's box office success would have paved the way for more Thai musical offers. But he instead decided to do a non-verbal theatrical production instead. According to Uekrongtham, one of the catalysts for Boxing Boys! was actually his feature film debut, Beautiful Boxer, a 2003 drama about transsexual Muay Thai boxer, Parinya Kiatbusaba.

"I don't think I would have been able to do Boxing Boys! if I had not done Beautiful Boxer," he explained. "It forced me to understand Thai kickboxing - and you have to do a lot of homework. Not just the craft but also the life of kickboxers and how the martial artist is perceived in its own country.

"I still had to do a lot of research (for Boxing Boys!) but not as much as I needed to do when starting something completely new," he added.

But the roots for Boxing Boys! go back even further to the early days of Action Theatre, when they had their 42 Theatre Festival. Back then, he had conceived of a piece combining ballet and gong fu with choreographer dancer Jeffrey Tan, wushu champ Picasso Tan and Chang & Eng composer, the late Ken Low.

"I was quite interested to do a non-verbal piece then. I thought martial arts was very intriguing - it's very violent yet it's artful and genteel. It's got a lot of potential for conflicts," he said.

All flash, no substance?

Boxing Boys! comes at the heels of other similar productions to hit Singapore shores, like Art Of Drum, Jump, Stomp and Riverdance. But while these have been commercially popular, there are also critics that decry these big-budget shows are empty spectacle - where the storyline plays second (or third) fiddle to the action onstage.

"In the past decade, a lot of these have sprung up and have become very popular around the world because of their universality - they don't need surtitles and they could play to people of all races and cultures. It's really the challenge of trying to communicate a story without relying on a dialogue," said Uekrongtham.

But he doesn't think of non-verbal theatre as artistically weaker than your "proper" musical or play. Pointing out its links to the tradition of mime, he considers Boxing Boys! and its non-verbal lineage to be the most challenging he's done.

"It's not like doing the movie where you have a storyboard, et cetera. There's a lot of improvisation on this one," he said, adding that he also had to write a dialogue for Boxing Boys! but didn't exactly use it.

"What I have tried to do with Boxing Boys! is to attempt to tell a story and give more emotion and conflict - I treated it like a normal play and didn't want (people to think) that just because it's non-verbal, it's completely blank," he said.

For his next projects, it's the film buffs who'll be stoked. Uekrongtham revealed he's been asked to be a Thai romantic comedy on singlehood ("it's such an in thing now!") and has finished a screenplay to be shot in Singapore. And next month, he'll be doing an "unusual film project with a Thai and a Taiwanese superstar", he said.

As for his efforts on the theatrical stage? He's still in the process of reading scripts.

"I miss my theatre friends here. It'd be nice to find something I can work with them again," he said.

One theatrical work has been perennially been on everyone's mind though - a restaging of Chang & Eng.

For the longest time, Uekrongtham has shied away from that possibility because of the loss of friend and collaborator Low, who passed away in July last year.

"I felt that I could never do it again when he passed away. I was thinking: 'How am I ever going to do that again'? I've never done that show without him," he said. "But I (also) thought maybe that could be the reason for me to do it again. Time has passed and we still remember him. Maybe that's a good reason. I would like to do it again for sure."

But will it ever return to the stage? Uekrongtham was coy with his answer.

"I think it will come back at some point - maybe sooner rather than later."

Boxing Boys runs from Oct 28 to 30, 8pm, Esplanade Theatre. With 3pm weekend matinees. Tickets at S$38 to S$88 from Sistic.

GeneChing

09-29-2011, 08:59 AM

Sort of the opposite of Kung Fu Panties (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1210471)

plato smash! ‘action philosophers’ to hit the stage next week (http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/34/39/24_actionphilosophers_2011_10_7_bk.html)
by thomas tracy
the brooklyn paper

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/34/39/24_actionphilosophers_2011_10_7_bk01_z.jpg
photo by crystal skillman
super heralds: Monks c.l. Weatherstone, ryan andes and joseph mathers prepare for the arrival of bodhidharma in “action philosophers!” performances run at the brick theater from oct. 6-16.

It’ll be the most entertaining philosophy 101 class you’ve ever sat through.

The sagacious writings of plato, bodhidharma, karl marx, rene descartes, friedrich neitzsche and ayn rand have been dumbed down, stuffed into comic book panels and thrown up onstage in “action philosophers!”, a laugh-out-loud comedy smashing its way into williamsburg’s brick theater on oct. 6, where history’s truth-seeking gurus are turned into superheroes.
Brooklyn bridge realty

the theatrical conceit is sound: After all, one fundamental truth is that people pay more attention to barrell-chested guys in spandex and capes than reed-thin intellectuals in tweed blazers with elbow patches.

In “action philosophers!” — based on the graphic novel with the same name — plato battles the shadows of perceived reality dressed as a mask-sporting mexican wrestler. Neitzsche is the first “superman” — although he’s still the depressed god killer we all know and love — and bodhidarama searches for self-enlightenment dressed as a kung-fu master.

Back in 2005, comic co-creators ryan dunlavey and fred van lente began wondering what historical figures would look like if they were action figures. Van lente realized that philosophers would look pretty bad-ass (or should we say their outward image would mirror their perceived image) — and get more respect — if they were dressed up like superheroes.

“at the time i was reading a lot of neitzsche for fun … that’s how i roll,” van lente said. “we decided to turn all of his life and thoughts into a crazy mini-comic that you would find with the action figures.”
borodeal

but they didn’t stop at neitzsche. They kept going, boiling down the lives of 30 philosophers — among them francis bacon, david hume and heraclitus (remember him? You would if, as in the graphic novel, his hair was on fire).

Van lente’s wife, crystal skillman, deconstructed the philosophers in the graphic novel even further — selecting six for the entertaining and educational stage experience.

“[choosing six] was a real challenge, but it worked because all of them have dramatic story arcs and journeys,” skillman said. “we wanted to find a unique way to talk about their discovery while staying true to their words.”

the play, which premiered at the brick for a limited run in june, brings together all types, from comedy fans to comic book geeks to philosophy students, skillman said.

“we get fans of the book, fans of the theater and fans of a certain philosopher,” she said. “we even have people rooting for ayn rand.”

“action philosophers!” at the brick [575 metropolitan ave. Between union avenue and lorraine street in williamsburg, (718) 907-6189], oct. 6–16. Tickets, $18. For information, visit www.bricktheater.com.

GeneChing

10-20-2011, 09:22 AM

Reminds me of the Beijing Olympic (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39275) Opening Ceremonies.

Cloud Gate troupe's dance concept represents calligraphy (http://www.detnews.com/article/20111020/ENT01/110200309/1033/Cloud-Gate-troupe%E2%80%99s-dance-concept-represents-calligraphy)
Lawrence B. Johnson/ Special to The Detroit News

http://cmsimg.detnews.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C3&Date=20111020&Category=ENT01&ArtNo=110200309&Ref=AR&Profile=1033
Meld the contours of classical ballet with the precision of martial arts, temper with the physiological discipline of calligraphy and you have the Taiwanese dance company called Cloud Gate.

Artistic director Lin Hwai-min, who founded the company 38 years ago, brings his 20 dancers to Ann Arbor's Power Center for the Performing Arts this weekend for two performances of his newly created 70-minute work "Water Stains on the Wall."

"The title refers to water stains on the wall caused by a leaking roof," says Lin. "Water stains caused in this way represent the highest form of calligraphy because it doesn't simply imitate nature — it is organic."

What does calligraphy — the art of producing decorative handwriting or lettering with a pen or brush — have to do with dance, or indeed dancers? Everything, Lin says.

"We don't pretend our bodies could replace the brush," he says. "We take it as a metaphor. The stage is a tilted ramp that rises to 2.5 meters (about 8 feet) at its highest point. Performing on this slope challenges the dancers greatly, but it also allows the audience to see the floor, which is white with (video) projections on it reminiscent of moving clouds of ink."

Dancers moving through that imagery, moving with a disciplined continuity that Lin says typically draws comparisons to liquid, evoke the essence of calligraphy.

"Calligraphy is not simply about movement of the wrists," Lin explains. "Calligraphy is also a form of meditation. It is an exercise in breathing, with movement of the total body. Our company takes its inspiration from the aesthetic of calligraphy. The dancers take weekly classes in calligraphy.

"All of our movements are based on the circle, the spiral, which is also the basic brush stroke in calligraphy."

Getting to that fluid essence involves what Lin calls a mingling of physical disciplines as diverse as Western ballet — in which Lin is trained — and Chinese opera movement, martial arts and modern dance. But don't look for clear signs of any of them in "Water Stains on the Wall."

Lin says all those source elements are processed into something completely new and distinct.

And movement for Cloud Gate Dance Theatre is a collective expression that is perhaps best likened to the motion of water, without apparent beginning or end, welling and shifting with a constant fluency that involves the entire body.

"Our reviews often say this is something you have never encountered on any stage," Lin says with obvious pride in a dance concept that retains its originality after nearly four decades and many international tours.

"The bodies of these dancers," he says almost as an afterthought, "are quite sophisticated."

'Water Stains on the Wall' Cloud Gate Theatre of Taiwan

8 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Power Center for the Performing Arts
121 Fletcher St., Ann Arbor
Tickets $18-$54
Call (734) 764-2538
www.ums.org

GeneChing

01-30-2012, 10:27 AM

I think there should be kung fu versions of all of Shakespeare’s works. Imagine a kung fu version of Midsummer's Night Dream. ;)

"Masters, spread yourselves."

Comedy of Errors: a kung-fu kick to purism (http://westcapenews.com/?p=3600)

http://westcapenews.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/COMEDY-OF-ERRORS_PROMO.jpg
Parody was the word bandied about by an elderly trio seated behind us during the interval of Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors at Maynardville.

I presumed they were purists, for director Matthew Wild’s interpretation of one of the bard’s earliest plays would certainly upset the traditionalist’s sensibilities.

There could be an argument for this production being a parody, but I would not go so far as to say Wild’s Chinatown 1970s kung-fu setting was ridiculing the world’s most revered playwright. Quite the opposite, I think Shakespeare may have been delighted.

Wild’s choices did serve to confound as much as to please, and the flow of action on what appeared to be a rather stilted mid-week performance didn’t help to smooth the questions of setting and style his directorial decisions had raised.

There were questions that niggled before the actors had even stepped on stage, and remained unanswered. Such as: what does the oriental script on the admittedly intriguing set actually say? Why does the dj placed overlooking the stage playing 80s pop hits such as Murray Head’s ‘One Night in Bangkok’ not retire once the play starts?

However, embracing the fact that Shakespeare can – nay, in modern times probably should – be placed in settings more contemporary than the world of Elizabethan England; relaxing the overly-critical eye; and giving the performers a little leeway in light of the fact that the audience were doing little more than congratulating themselves on surviving the third day of a heat wave, I’d have to say the play was a hoot.

Despite unsatisfied curiosity about the meaning of the oriental lettering, Angela Nemov’s set served its ends brilliantly and she let loose when it came to outfitting the cast in retro 70s gear replete with silk shorts, high cut denims and platform shoes. From a 2012 perspective, this in itself leans to comedy, making the actors’ task of raising a laugh that much easier, although providing them with a hurdle when dialogue took a more serious turn.

Although they had the obstacle of a heat-exhausted audience that weren’t providing much energy for them to feed off, the cast put their heart into it and pulled off a performance that was above ‘very good’ but not quite ‘stellar’.

Standouts were, as expected, James Cairns and Rob van Vuuren as the servant twins Dromio of Ephesus and Dromio of Syracuse, the pair providing most of the comedy amongst the errors with spot-on timing. Nicholas Pauling and Andrew Laubscher as Antipholus of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus did a superb job, with Laubscher’s raging frustration at being the butt of the increasing litany of misunderstandings particularly entertaining.

If you can leave your preconceptions in the park and simply relish in the ridiculous, this is yet another Maynardville production which does Shakespeare proud. Given his slapstick sense of humour, I’m sure he’s laughing in his grave. – Steve Kretzmann

Comedy of Errors runs at Maynardville’s open air theatre until February 18. Bookings through Computicket.

GeneChing

01-31-2012, 10:17 AM

Every why hath a wherefore.

South Africa: Comedy of Errors - a Kung-Fu Kick to Purism (http://allafrica.com/stories/201201310166.html)
By Steve Kretzmann, 30 January 2012

Parody was the word bandied about by an elderly trio seated behind us during the interval of Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors at Maynardville.

I presumed they were purists, for director Matthew Wild's interpretation of one of the bard's earliest plays would certainly upset the traditionalist's sensibilities.

There could be an argument for this production being a parody, but I would not go so far as to say Wild's Chinatown 1970s kung-fu setting was ridiculing the world's most revered playwright. Quite the opposite, I think Shakespeare may have been delighted.

Wild's choices did serve to confound as much as to please, and the flow of action on what appeared to be a rather stilted mid-week performance didn't help to smooth the questions of setting and style his directorial decisions had raised.

There were questions that niggled before the actors had even stepped on stage, and remained unanswered. Such as: what does the oriental script on the admittedly intriguing set actually say? Why does the dj placed overlooking the stage playing 80s pop hits such as Murray Head's 'One Night in Bangkok' not retire once the play starts?

However, embracing the fact that Shakespeare can - nay, in modern times probably should - be placed in settings more contemporary than the world of Elizabethan England; relaxing the overly-critical eye; and giving the performers a little leeway in light of the fact that the audience were doing little more than congratulating themselves on surviving the third day of a heat wave, I'd have to say the play was a hoot.

Despite unsatisfied curiosity about the meaning of the oriental lettering, Angela Nemov's set served its ends brilliantly and she let loose when it came to outfitting the cast in retro 70s gear replete with silk shorts, high cut denims and platform shoes. From a 2012 perspective, this in itself leans to comedy, making the actors' task of raising a laugh that much easier, although providing them with a hurdle when dialogue took a more serious turn.

Although they had the obstacle of a heat-exhausted audience that weren't providing much energy for them to feed off, the cast put their heart into it and pulled off a performance that was above 'very good' but not quite 'stellar'.

Standouts were, as expected, James Cairns and Rob van Vuuren as the servant twins Dromio of Ephesus and Dromio of Syracuse, the pair providing most of the comedy amongst the errors with spot-on timing. Nicholas Pauling and Andrew Laubscher as Antipholus of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus did a superb job, with Laubscher's raging frustration at being the butt of the increasing litany of misunderstandings particularly entertaining.

If you can leave your preconceptions in the park and simply relish in the ridiculous, this is yet another Maynardville production which does Shakespeare proud. Given his slapstick sense of humour, I'm sure he's laughing in his grave.

GeneChing

06-01-2012, 09:45 AM

Follow the link for four pix. Unfortunately, they are protected from cutting and pasting so I can't embed them here.

Chinese Kungfu appears at Israel festival (http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2012-06/01/c_131624815.htm)
English.news.cn | 2012-06-01 10:59:52 | Editor: Yang Lina

A performer from China Poly Agency performs "Kungfu Revelations: 9 scrolls" at Jerusalem Theater during Israel Festival on May 31, 2012. The Israel Festival was founded in 1961 as a summer music festival taking place in the ancient Roman theatre in Caesarea and was adopted in 1982 as Israeli national festival. The majority of performances have been held in Jerusalem since 1982. (Xinhua/Yin Dongxun)

GeneChing

08-01-2012, 10:56 AM

This sounds intriguingly edgy.

The Odyssey Project Makes Rehabilitative Powers of Art a Reality (http://www.independent.com/news/2012/aug/01/odyssey-project-makes-rehabilitative-powers-a/)
UCSB Professor, Students Team Up with Los Prietos Boys Camp to Re-create an Epic
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
By Kelsey Gripenstraw
http://media.independent.com/img/croppedphotos/2012/07/31/Odyssey-Project-2_t479.jpg?6626f76dcd72edc2e28f46812c7026450162bdb 2

Throw six UCSB students, five members of Los Prietos Boys Camp, a determined theater professor, an ancient epic poem, an enormous mask, some martial arts, and a bit of hip-hop dancing into a blender, set it on high, and you’ll produce an experience humbling and leveling for all involved.

For this year’s Odyssey Project (a second stab at a class previously offered last summer), UCSB Theater Professor Michael Morgan interviewed six UCSB students to mentor and work with five boys of Los Prietos Boys Camp, a space alternative to juvenile hall for offenders aged 13-18. Over the course of the class the boys, many of who are gang-affiliated, work together to recreate Homer’s The Odyssey by interjecting their own experiences into the classic epic. The goal: to give the boys a way to reflect on their experiences and circumstances, while spending a chunk of their summer with students on the UCSB campus. The program wraps with a performance of their work at Center Stage Theater on Sunday, August 5.

Morgan said his idea sprouted from his desire to give back to his community, as well as from watching the 2005 TV movie Shakespeare Behind Bars, in which prisoners put together a rendition of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

“One of the distinctions that occurred to me when I saw this movie was that these are guys that are locked up. Many of them may never get out,” said Morgan. “The purpose of my program was to see if I could target people before they get that far, while they’re still able to make some other choices.”

The Odyssey Project serves as a lot more than just a summer course to the six UCSB students who enrolled. “It’s a big class,” said Morgan. “We meet Monday through Thursday for four hours a day for six weeks.” It’s a huge time commitment, especially compared to most summer session classes, but the students emphasize that the difference they’re making more than makes up for the long hours spent indoors.

“It’s a very humbling experience that makes me so grateful for how quick life can change,” said Travis Orozco, a recent UCSB Theater Department grad who is spending his second summer with the program. “I just want to let them know that their lives can better.”

“I judged them from the get go,” admitted Samantha Cuellar, another theater major who participated in the course. “When I first met the boys, I was slightly nervous. They surprised me a lot. They were very respective, very attentive. They were just young boys playing around the theater world. People slam down the door immediately on juvenile delinquents and their history. They see their history and just label them as that, and they don’t really get a second chance because of it.”

“Most all of them are motivated by sharing art with humanity,” said Morgan of the students.

Orozco jumped at the chance to use his area of study to reach out to boys, whose experiences reminded him of his own. “I come from a very low income and social status area in Los Angeles and I’ve been through a lot of things they’ve been through,” explained Orozco. “I was in juvie when I was younger.”

Common motifs in the boys’ renditions of The Odyssey were the ideas of a higher power, temptation, and going home. “Very often these guys have to leave their environment once they get out of probation,” said Morgan. “They have to actually go away in order to avoid going back to the patterns, and in a gang, the loyalty puts on a certain pressure.”

Through their participation in the program the boys were exempt from other activities at Los Prietos. When interviewed, Morgan and the students made it clear that the program’s goal that artistic accomplishment can serve as a rehabilitating alternative to traditional penalty was reached.

“I think the boys definitely got something out of it. There was a point where one of the boys decided not to participate anymore,” recounted Cuellar. “All of the other boys were upset about it. We made it very clear to them that if [they didn’t] want to be here, [they could] quit. They said, ‘No, we signed up for this because we wanted to be here.’ I feel like they’ve learned a lot about responsibility and loyalty to each other.”

Orozco also participated in the class when it was offered in the summer of 2011, and vouched for its lasting results with a certain teenager he met last year. “One of the kids that I got really close to last year — he’s going to community college, he’s working at a hospital. … There are some kids that put up this defensive wall through this entire project, but the kids that actually care and invest in it — they do see the power of art. Theater allows individuals to see life from different perspectives.”
4•1•1:

Michael Morgan and the UCSB Department of Theater & Dance present The Odyssey Project on Sunday, August 5 at Center Stage Theater (751 Paseo Nuevo). The show starts at 2 p.m. and will be followed by a Q&A with the participants. Call 963-0408 or visit centerstagetheater.org for tickets and info.

GeneChing

09-11-2012, 09:08 AM

1st entry (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1073761)

2nd entry (ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1084744)

Strand Theater Company Presents MORE ARTS/LESS MARTIAL, 9/23 (http://baltimore.broadwayworld.com/article/Strand-Theater-Company-Presents-MORE-ARTSLESS-MARTIAL-923-20120910)
Monday, September 10, 2012; 08:09 PM - by BWW News Desk

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Strand Theater Company proudly welcomes for one night only an award-winning playwright and comedian Dylan Brody, with his critically acclaimed one-man show More Arts/Less Martial. Premiered in January 2009 to a standing ovation, the piece takes Brody and his audience on a poignant and often hilarious journey from a childhood of bullied insecurity to an adulthood of martial arts study, personal growth and ultimately true Mastery of storytelling and Taekwondo. Dylan Brody’s work has been compared to that of Garrison Keillor, David Sedaris, and Woody Allen. The Baltimore Premiere of More Arts/Less Martial is a one-night-only performance on Sunday, September 23rd at 8pm. General Admission tickets are $20.

Strand Artistic Director Rain Pryor, who is directing Brody’s play, Mother, May I, as the theater’s season opener, is a long-time friend of the playwright. “Mr. Brody is one of the finest satirist minds I know”, says Pryor. “I am honored to have been asked to direct the World Premiere of his play, and excited for Baltimore to meet and hear a genius.”

Mother, May I opens at the Strand on Friday, September 21st, and runs through October 12th.
About the Playwright/Performer: Winner of the 2005 Stanley Drama Award for Playwriting, Dylan Brody is a thrice-published author of fiction for the Young Adult market with one of his books, A Tale of a Hero and The Song of Her Sword, finding a place in the curriculum at several public schools in the U.S.
Brody studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London while he worked the city’s Comedy Clubs and developed a loyal following at the Canal Café Theater. Returning to America, he worked venues from New York to Los Angeles, sharing the stage with some of the comedy world’s biggest stars, including Adam Sandler, Jon Lovitz, Larry Miller, Norm McDonald, Louie Anderson, Richard Belzer, Larry David, and Jerry Seinfeld. He has written for dozens of comedians, including Jay Leno, who has used Brody’s work in his monologues on The Tonight Show.
Brody’s new CD, CHRONOLOGICAL DISORDER, his fourth with Stand Up! Records, was released on February 14th 2012 with liner notes by Elayne Boosler. His previous CD, A TWIST OF THE WIT came out in 2011 (liner notes by Paul Provenza) and the two before that were released in 2009 by Stand Up! following a sold out launch event at the Comedy Central Stage.
For more than two decades, Dylan Brody has been making people laugh around the world. He has evolved into an artful anecdotalist with an engaging style all his own. A raconteur whose witty and profound personal tales are unique, yet utterly relatable for everyone, he has earned a reputation as one of America’s fastest rising storytellers.

Performance Date:
Sunday, September 23rd at 8pm

Ticket Prices
General Admission - $20

About the Strand.
The Strand Theater Company champions challenging and provocative theater that especially celebrates women’s diverse voices and perspectives while bringing together the creative talents of both women and men as artists, technicians, and administrators. We invite patrons to experience some of the region’s best contemporary and reinterpreted works for the stage in our intimate midtown theater.

Since launching in 2008, the Strand has presented 17 full-length plays, including eight World Premieres; offered 75% of the artistic positions on its productions—as playwrights, directors, designers, stage managers, and actors—to women; provided affordable theater space to many organizations and independent artists; and played an integral role in the revitalization of the Station North Arts & Entertainment District.

In August 2011, the Strand was honored as one of Baltimore magazine’s “Top 5 Baltimore Theaters,” along with CENTERSTAGE, Everyman, the Hippodrome, and Single Carrot. To learn more about the Strand Theater Company, visit strand-theater.org.

GeneChing

11-13-2012, 10:12 AM

I think these are two different shows. See
More on Be Like Water (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=885398#post885398)

Q & A with Hetain Patel On His New Show Inspired By Kung Fu and His Search for What Makes Our Cultural Identity (http://www.artinfo.com/node/840458)

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Jean van Lingen
Hetain Patel and Yuyu Rau in "Be Like Water"
by Samantha Tse, ARTINFO UK
Published: November 13, 2012

Artist Hetain Patel is debuting his new show “Be Like Water” this month, which explores the complexities of cultural identity through dance theatre, personal monologue, and his love of kung fu and popular culture spiced with a bit of wit.

“Be Like Water” draws from Patel’s childhood fantasies stemming from his love of fictional superheroes like Spiderman and Bruce Lee and re-created scenes from martial arts movies. There’s an element of fantasy versus reality, and how one identifies with culture in Patel’s work. Fellow performer Yuyu Rau acts as a translator and an avatar for Patel’s fantasies, in which the duo imitate their heroes and re-enact fight scenes from their favorite movies. Patel wrote the monologues and choreographed the dance sequences, which combine movements from everyday life and Kung Fu with film footage from his visual arts practice.

Patel’s work has been shown internationally in China, India, America, Sweden, and in the UK. He was the Artist-in-Residence at this year’s Southbank Centre’s Alchemy Festival and showed works at Frieze Art Fair in the autumn, as well as the Dance Umbrella Festival.

ARTINFO UK had the chance to catch up with Patel via email and ask him a few questions about the show, childhood influences, and the importance of skinny guys who beat up the bad guys.

Your work draws a lot from your childhood, who were your influences and why?

I watched a lot of TV and was (still am) a comic book fan. In particular I loved Bruce Lee and Spider-Man. I was quite a nerdy kid and experienced some bullying for a number of reasons so these figures became fantasy role models for me. Skinny guys who beat up bad guys in style! Also I watched a lot of early Eddie Murphy films. There was no “Goodness Gracious Me” then so this was the closest thing to reflecting a cultural minority struggle we had – and again delivered in style – this was probably also where my love of comedy came from too actually.

You incorporate a lot of pop cultural references into your work, do you think pop culture says about our society? Is it a reflection or a deflection?

It’s probably both. It can be seen as a reflection or a method to brainwash. I suppose my interest in it is that for better or worse it is something consumed by masses of people, and because of this becomes a medium for some level of collective experience. As someone fascinated with language and communication this is something I’m hugely interested in.

There is an element of martial arts in your work, what are the parallels between martial artistry and dance? Is it a physical vocabulary or is there more?

Bruce Lee describes Kung Fu as his way of expressing himself as honestly as he possibly can- totally and completely. That this is his aim but it is very hard to do. At the heart of it I think this is what dance is too – the dance that I’m in to anyway! Physical vocabularies in both Kung Fu and dance feel more to me like the surface of what they are. I think both require discipline and practice to achieve honest expression.

What's the importance of incorporating film and video into your work?

I’ve grown up watching so much of it that it is only natural that it would be one of the ways for me to say something too. They are two of many languages that I use to communicate. Others include performance, sculpture, animation, photography and writing. Each of these media have different capabilities and offer different ways to say things. Film and video offer me the composition of a frame around a body, references to lots of other things that have been seen on TV and cinema screens, and of course can be watched in loop in the viewers own time without the artist present.

What are your upcoming projects?

On 27th and 28th November I’m premiering my new theatre piece “Be Like Water” at the Royal Opera House (Linbury Studio Theatre) in London. I’ve been working on this for two years so am excited to be able to share the finished piece. And inspired by Bruce Lee, it’s also his and my birthday. Touring nationally in parallel with this show next year is my new solo exhibition of photography and video works, which include footage and imagery of my family members and wife. On top of this we begin an international tour of my first theatre piece “TEN” in February, and start work on a new commission for a comedy show. Obviously before all of this is hopefully a long break over Christmas!

“Be Like Water”, November 27 – 28, at Linbury Studio Theatre, Royal Opera House, WC2E 9DD
I'm now tempted to split all the Bruce Lee inspired live theater into it's own independent thread. Maybe I will someday when I have a moment to spare...

GeneChing

11-26-2012, 11:22 AM

Kagemu à Paris [HD_2011] (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdM6RTJKkiA)

GeneChing

12-05-2012, 10:04 AM

We often overlook the traditional connection between kung fu and circus. On a certain level, this is the root of this thread.

Ojai Art Center to welcome Chinese acrobat (http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/dec/04/ojai-art-center-to-welcome-chinese-acrobat/)
By Alicia Doyle
Posted December 4, 2012 at 7:12 p.m.

http://media.vcstar.com/media/img/photos/2012/12/04/288304_t300.JPG
Photo by Jeffrey Machtig, Contributed Photo
Acrobat Li Liu performs in 2009 at the Big Sheboygan Shebang in Wisconsin.

Born in Heilongjiang province in northeastern China, Li Liu started acrobatic training with her father when she was 6.

"My father started doing kung fu when he was a little boy. He was touring with a martial arts performance group when he saw his first circus at the age of 16," Liu said. "I begged him to teach me, and he told me it would be really hard work. When he finally agreed to teach me it was hard work, but I loved it."

At 7, Liu went to Beijing, where she lived and trained at the National Circus School until she was 16.

"The training there was good, but I always learned the most when I was home for two months each summer and I was able to work with my father one on one," she said.

On Saturday, Liu will perform "The Traditions of Chinese Acrobatics" at the Ojai Art Center. Presented by Performances to Grow On, the show will incorporate aspects of Chinese language, geography and culture.

"This is a solo show offering an up-close-and-personal experience with the grace and beauty from one of the stars of the Chinese acrobats," said Brian Bemel, founder of Performances to Grow On.

Chinese acrobatics dates about 2,000 years, Liu said.

"Many of the teachers at that time were stuck in the old way of teaching things," said Liu, who traveled with the Liaoning State Circus and Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus and appeared on "Late Show With David Letterman."

"My father always looked at things a bit differently," she said. "He was able to find a lot of training shortcuts, and he also felt that I shouldn't be limited to doing certain skills just because I was a girl."

A lot of female Chinese acrobats are limited to working with spinning plates and diabolos, the juggling prop, she said.

"I include those skills in my show, but I also do artistic cycling, hand balancing, foot juggling, ribbon dancing and Chinese water bowl manipulation," Liu said.

The acrobat, who divides her time between Naugatuck, Conn., and New York, said she especially enjoys hand balancing and artistic cycling.

"Those are the skills that I spent the most time on — easily thousands of hours on each — and they are the routines that I still enjoy the most up until today," she said.

http://media.vcstar.com/media/img/photos/2012/12/04/941945_t607.JPG
Photo by Jeffrey Machtig
Acrobat Li Liu performs in 2009 at the Big Sheboygan Shebang in Wisconsin.

Because she loves to perform, the physicality of acrobatics doesn't take a specific mental approach, she added.

"Physically, I still practice an hour or two each day, and I do a lot of stretching and what my husband calls body maintenance," Liu said. "I work on my leg, back, shoulders and arm muscles to make sure everything stays more or less in balance. It's like taking my car to the mechanic every day to have small adjustments made."

Liu hopes children who attend the show will realize the different things they can do in life.

"I don't specifically try to inspire kids to be acrobats," she said "but I do hope to get them thinking that if they are passionate about something, there is a way to make it into a lifelong pursuit and possibly even a _career."

If you go
What: "The Traditions of Chinese Acrobatics"
When: 4 p.m. Dec. 8
Where: Ojai Art Center
Cost: $15 adults; $10 children
Tickets: 646-8907; http://www.ptgo.org/families.html

GeneChing

03-28-2013, 09:39 AM

Capoeira is so perfect for theater.

DanceBrazil uses martial art capoeira as choreographic tool (http://www.parkrecord.com/ci_22876803/dancebrazil-uses-martial-art-capoeira-choreographic-tool)
Company's mission is to spread culture and art
Scott Iwasaki, The Park Record
Posted: 03/26/2013 04:58:46 PM MDT

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Jalon Vieira, artistic director and choreographer for DanceBrazil, is on a mission to bring a taste of his culture to audiences all around the world.

He takes traditional Brazilian martial arts moves known as capoeira and adjusts them to fit into contemporary dance works.

Vieira also uses traditional Brazilian to tell stories about his country.

When DanceBrazil comes to the Eccles Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, March 30, the audience will be treated to an energetic evening of two selections that will focus on the art of capoeira and the ongoing draught in Brazil's northeast region, Vieira said during a phone call to The Park Record from a stop in Austin, Texas.

"I'm excited to return to Utah and perform in Park City," Vieira said. "It is exciting for us to be able to bring these works to the mountains."

The two pieces will be 2010's "Banguela" and a new work, "Fé."

"'Banguela' is a based on the capoeira rhythm, but not really about the martial art itself," Vieira explained. "In capoeira there are several rhythms. All of them are different and show various expressions. 'Banguela' is about the control, the fun and dancing elements of capoeira."

The piece, which is an ensemble work for 10 people, will also display the strength and the ritualism of the art, which was created by descendents of African slaves that lived in Brazil in the 16th century, Vieira said.

The style is comprised of sweeping legs and leaps that rely on leverage and speed to execute.

"Today, capoeira continues to feed my work," Vieira said. "It's a fountain of identity that flows forever."

The new work 'Fé,' which mean faith, tells the story of the remote desert in Brazil, located in the country's northeast area.

For years, the region has been decimated by draught and the situation is dire for the inhabitants, Vieira said.

"'Fé' is about the lifestyles of the people in that area," Vieira said. "I was inspired to do something about them while I was reading an article one day.

"I read that a drought occurred in that area in 1890, and that most of the population, about 90 percent of the people, was wiped out," he said. "As I read more about this area, I found the people have a unique culture, especially when it comes to music."

Vieira's research led him to interviews with members of the region's population.

"I found how water in that area has been a major cause of conflict throughout history," he said. "As recent as the 1950s, there was a caravan that passed through the area. The people started killing each other to survive, because there was not enough water in tanks for everyone."

Of course, the children and women were the first ones to be killed, and the men started killing each other afterwards, Vieira said.

"These days we have another crisis," he said. "There is another draught and many people have lost their animals, especially the livestock, due to lack of water."

Regardless of the tragedies that the people have experienced, they have managed to stay fairly positive, Vieira said.

"That's why I chose to title the piece 'Fé,'" he said. "I did it because everyone I've talked to who lives in the region told me they all have faith that the place will change and become a better place to live some day.

"They continue to trust that there will eventually be enough water for everyone to live prosperously," he said.

The score for the work was taken from the region's traditional music, but also from the people themselves.

"Many of the quotes that are used in the soundtrack of the dance were taken from live interviews that I did," Vieira said. "The more I interviewed, the more I discovered that these people find joy in bleakness. The joy increases when the rain falls, and they always put on a big celebration."

Vieira choregraphed "Fé" in just three weeks.

"When most choreographers create a piece, if they feel it in their hearts, the process goes much faster," he said. "While we will perform 'Fé' as if it's complete, I still feel it's a work-in-progress. I could easily extend the piece and examine other truths in this area."

Reflecting on his mission to bring Brazilian culture to his audiences, Vieira said his philosophy hasn't changed since he formed DanceBrazil in 1977.

Throughout the company's history, Vieira has created works such as "Pivete," a piece about Brazil's thousands of homeless children, and "Pelada," which addressed the damage gold prospectors did to the mountain Pelada that now exists as a 600-foot crater.

"I have always felt a responsibility as a Brazilian native to bring and present these ideas to our audiences," Vieira said. "I feel there should not be a line that comes between art and real life and what is really happening in the world, and I want to educate people about my country through what some people view as entertainment. I feel I can bring awareness to people through the choreography and the music."

Like "Banguela," "Fé" contains elements of capoeira.

"In one of the solos, I use the movements to express death," Vieira explained. "The reason is because that's what the people talk about all the time. It's their way of life."

Still, Vieira doesn't want the movements to misrepresent what the piece is about.

"I always look very carefully at how the dancers are interpreting the choreography and how it pertains to the culture of the northeastern area," he said.

Vieira said an audience's reaction tell him if he's accomplished his mission.

"I really don't look for rewards, but what makes me feel like we are doing something right is seeing how people accept what I'm doing, and if my message got through or not," he said. "One of those times was when we performed in Arkansas. We enjoyed a standing ovation, and during an after-performance reception, people told us how the piece touched them.

"They told us they would not have learned these things if they had not seen DanceBrazil perform," Vieira said.

The choreographer hopes he will be able to artistically touch the Eccles Center audience on Saturday.

"I look forward to be able to come back to Utah and to be exposed to another community such as Park City," he said. "We hope to see many people in the audience."

The Park City Performing Arts Foundation will present DanceBrazil at the Eccles Center for the Performing Arts, 1750 Kearns Blvd., on Saturday, March 30, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $20 to $67 and are available at www.ecclescenter.org .

GeneChing

06-11-2013, 09:39 AM

Looks awful purdy... :)

Kungfu Dance "The Door" Staged at Peking University Hall (http://english.cri.cn/11354/2013/06/11/2702s769666_3.htm)
2013-06-11 21:12:11 Xinhua Web Editor: Mao Yaqing
http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2013/06/11/825e94d0c22a411fbb7975e07600d9cf.jpg
http://english.cri.cn/mmsource/images/2013/06/11/ad38b5ff16e6459d8388ce03c18d879b.jpg
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Dancers from Dragon Style Kung Fu Performance Troupe perform in the Kungfu Dance "The Door" at the Peking University Hall in Beijing, capital of China, June 10, 2013. [Photo: Xinhua]

GeneChing

10-07-2013, 08:51 AM

Who could resist a show titled so?

Kung Fu Zombies Vs Cannibals Trailer #1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5xVeKqsSAg)

Kung Fu Zombies Vs Cannibals Trailer #2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqdZhUClM1Y)

Kung Fu Zombies vs. Cannibals (http://www.southerntheater.org/mu/)
Written by Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay
Directed by Randy Reyes

Take a ride into a post-apocalyptic world where zombies have taken over and cannibals hide in the mountains. Based on the five Buddhist tenets, follow two Lao women as they struggle to maintain their personal moral code in a world gone wrong.

Pub Crawl
Zombie Pub crawl is going on the same weekend as opening night. Dress up like a Zombie for $5 off tickets anytime during the run (no other ticket deals apply including student pricing).

SAYMOUKDA DUANGPHOUXAY VONGSAY is an award-winning Lao American poet and playwright whose poetry, essays, plays, and short stories have been published by literary journals, lifestyle magazines, almanacs, newspapers, anthologies, and scholastic journals nationwide. She was named a 2011 Change Maker by Intermedia Arts and is a recipient of numerous scholarships to continue her education and work in philanthropy, arts administration, public policy, and literary arts.

Cast consists of the lead actors: Meghan Kreidler, Laura Anderson, Payton Woodson, Maxwell Thao, Ayden Her, Jeannie Lander, Phasoua Vang, Allen Malicsi and a Fighting Chorus with: Rocky Her, Mikey Postle, Venise Berte, Joelle Fernandez, and Taylor Her.

This play marks the beginning of Randy Reyes’ tenure as Mu's new Artistic Director after 21 years under the leadership of Rick Shiomi. Randy will direct this newest product of the Mu Performing Arts/Jerome New Performance Program.

Production team includes:
Lisa Smith (Stage Manager), Karin Olson (Lighting Designer), John Beuche (Set Designer), Guy Wagner (Projection Designer), Kellie Larson (Props Designer), and DJ Kool Akiem (Sound Designer)

Dates & Times

Oct 12 - 27
Thur - Sat 7:30p
Sun 2:00p

Preview Oct 11 7:30p ($18 tickets)

Tickets

General Admission
Adult $22
Student $10
$5 Zombie Discount
Tickets availble through the Mu Performing Arts Website.

Skip "Miss Saigon," see Mu Performing Arts' "Kung Fu Zombies vs. Cannibals" (http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/arts/2013/10/04/skip-miss-saigon-see-mu-performing-arts-kung-fu-zombies-vs-cannibals)
By Amina Harper, The Art House
October 04, 2013

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Photo by Aaron Fenster, courtesy Mu Performing Arts

I don’t know a lot about theater. I worked for a small local theater company in 2010 and I volunteered backstage in my high school’s theater program on occasion. That may sound like something, but I’m not very familiar with theater etiquette or terminology and the history of most well-known plays is largely lost on me. What I do know is that theater is art and art shouldn’t perpetuate racism, and that’s why I don’t understand why Miss Saigon is being given a platform and why there are people out there that think that’s okay. But fear not, there is hope.

Art doesn’t just exist to promote communication and visual intrigue, but to debunk antiquated stereotypes and messages founded in ignorance—and I’m happy to announce that Saymoukda Vongsay’s Kung Fu Zombies vs. Cannibals is the perfect remedy to whatever racial mayhem stories like Miss Saigon may leave in their wake. It features a well-crafted Asian-American female lead surrounded by a diverse cast of characters aiding her on a journey of self-discovery and compassion in the midst of a violent zombie apocalypse. I know, I see you about to buy tickets.

If you want to see a show like Miss Saigon I can’t stop you, but I can tell you that just because a story is a work of fiction doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have real reverberations for real people in real communities. I can’t stop you from seeing Miss Saigon, but if you are interested in stories that present the perspective of an Asian character that isn’t degrading or degraded, I can most definitely offer you a better alternative.

http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/sites/tcdailyplanet.net/files/imagecache/NewArticlePic/mu_performing_arts_kung_fu_zombies_vs._cannibals.j pg

GeneChing

10-10-2013, 10:38 AM

I must confess I'd love to see this show.

Chinese Stage Show PANDA! to Debut in Las Vegas (http://english.cri.cn/11354/2013/10/10/2702s791570.htm)
2013-10-10 17:46:39 Chinanews.cn Web Editor: Mao Yaqing

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Chinese stage show PANDA! puts on its first performance in Beijing on October 9, 2013. The show, featuring acrobatics, martial arts, magic and Chinese drama, will debut in Las Vegas of the United States on December 14 this year. [Photo: China News Service/Li Xueshi]

GeneChing

10-31-2013, 08:50 AM

Nice pic but no panda. :(

Las Vegas: 'Panda!' showcases acrobats, dancers, kung fu performers

http://www.trbimg.com/img-5271a2a4/turbine/la-trb-las-vegas-panda-20131030-001/600
The fate of the Pea**** Princess rests on the pluck of a panda named Long Long in a new production called -- what else? -- "Panda!" opening in December at the Palazzo in Las Vegas. ("Panda!")

By Jay Jones
October 31, 2013, 7:15 a.m.

Troupes of acrobats, dancers and kung fu performers will combine their talents when "Panda!," a Chinese-produced show -- the first of its kind in Las Vegas -- opens in mid-December on the Strip

Tickets for “Panda!,” which will play at the Palazzo, go on sale Friday.

The production promises audiences an evening of Far Eastern folklore combining acrobatics, kung fu mastery, music and dance.

The story follows a panda named Long Long as he works to rescue his beloved Pea**** Princess from the clutches of the evil Demon Vulture. In his quest, Long Long seeks advice from Immortal Old Kung Fu Man, who helps prepare him for the dangerous mission.

“We’ve taken two of China’s national treasures, pandas and kung fu, and illuminated them in a visually stunning production that tells an unforgettable and timeless story,” director An Zhao said in a news release.

“Panda!” is produced by a team whose credits include the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays to Sundays beginning Dec. 14. Tickets cost $48 to $128 and will be available starting Friday online or by calling (702) 414-9000.

GeneChing

12-16-2013, 09:43 AM

Kung Fu Fighter
Panda! takes audiences on a Far East journey (http://lasvegasmagazine.com/2013/12/13/kung-fu-fighter/)
By Susan Stapleton

http://lasvegasmagazine.com/files/2013/12/121513_panda_post.jpg
The Palazzo 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Sun. beginning Dec. 16, $48-$128 plus tax and fee. 702.414.9000

What’s not to like about a fun-loving heroic panda who has to learn some kung fu moves to rescue his fiancée when she is kidnapped? Throw in some mind-bending acrobatics and killer graphics unseen in Las Vegas and you have Panda!, the first-ever Chinese-produced show on the Strip.

The producers behind Panda! have the chops to create a show worthy of The Palazzo, where the residency plays out starting Dec. 16. After all, they created the dramatic drum theme for the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. That piece captured the world when it introduced the ancient past of China, as did the more lighthearted closing ceremonies for those Olympic Games. Panda! combines a little of both, showing Far East influences with acrobatics, kung fu and dazzling backdrops on screens.

“Panda! is a one-of-a-kind production that will leave audiences in awe,” director An Zhao said in a press release. “We’ve taken two of China’s national treasures, pandas and kung fu, and illuminated them in a visually stunning production that tells an unforgettable and timeless story.”

Performers from the China National Acrobatic Troupe, Shaolin Monastery Kung Fu Monks Troupe and China Star Dance Troupe all perform in this cultural production that introduces audiences to the Far East.

LongLong, the hero of this tale in seven acts, takes center stage for this production. This brave but naïve panda just wants to marry the Pea**** Princess. On their wedding day, the jealous Demon Vulture and his gang have other plans and kidnap LongLong’s bride-to-be and turn his home, the bamboo forest, into shambles. Our hero LongLong turns to the Old Kung Fu Man, who agrees to take him on a journey to find the divine sword that will save his bride.

LongLong’s travels take him to the Monkey King, a martial arts expert. Here the pros from the Shaolin Monastery Kung Fu Monks in China take over the stage with their skills in 18 different forms of martial arts. LongLong wants to learn them all. The Demon Vulture has other plans and sends a golden lion to disrupt the quest. An epic battle takes place, pitting the monkeys against the lion, and, of course, the kung fu monkeys win.

That doesn’t stop the Demon Vulture, who tries to tempt LongLong with sirens who attempt to distract him from his journey with their seductive ways. Old Kung Fu Man rescues our hero from this underwater world and these tempting vixens.

LongLong then faces a journey through forests, high cliffs, icebergs and the hardships that come with them to become a kung fu master. The Demon Vulture turns his attention to the Pea**** Princess by trying to seduce her. Fortunately LongLong has found the divine sword and uses it to take on the Demon Vulture.
This still sounds strangely amusing to me.

GeneChing

01-27-2014, 09:42 AM

I'm thinking of clipping Panda! posts out of this thread to make its own independent thread.

A Matter of Black and White (http://lasvegasmagazine.com/2014/01/24/a-matter-of-black-and-white/)
http://lasvegasmagazine.com/files/2014/01/012614_feature_panda_post.jpg
Panda! presents the essence of Chinese culture with a high-flying, immersive experience

By Matt Kelemen
Photo by Christopher DeVargas

The Palazzo 7:30 p.m. Tues.-Sun., $48-$128 plus tax and fee. 702.414.9000

How do you solve a problem like describing Panda!? It’s safe to say that for most Western audiences Panda! will be unlike anything they’ve seen before, save for segments of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Aside from the computer-generated imagery employed to create vividly colorful backgrounds and a conspicuous reticence on the part of the fuzzier members of the cast, Panda! is firmly rooted in the culture from which it springs, representing China and its history as well as offering what is arguably its international symbol as its thematic star.

In contemporary China, pandas aren’t just cute animals celebrated in the news every time one gets pregnant. They are symbols of national pride, ambassadors and mascots (in the form of good-luck dolls) of the 2008 Olympics. While the abstract story line of Panda! will likely be the main element of familiarity for veterans of “spectacrobatic” Strip productions, there isn’t much precedent for the sight of black-and-white bears performing death-defying feats in the bamboo forest of the introductory scenes. While some of the furries busted out some break-dancing moves at a November sneak peek in the Sands Showroom, it was the demonstrations by the representatives of the Masters from the Shaolin Temple that gave an impression of what would take place inside the Palazzo Theater after the New Year.

There is a story. Our alpha panda is LongLong, who pines for the exquisitely costumed Pea**** Princess. Just as they are to be wed, the Princess is abducted by the Demon Vulture, sending LongLong on an odyssey that allows director An Zhao to segue into members of the China National Acrobatic Troupe hurling themselves through hoops, kung fu choreography by the gold-suited Shaolin featuring a preteen master who knows how to use his head, lavishly dressed ladies who add fuchsia flair to the fantasy, and a morphing set design that seems to have a life of its own without hydraulically overwhelming the performers.

The confidence exuded by the creators of Panda! at the November sneak preview was no idle boasting. For the show’s first Saturday evening performance, they invited American gymnast Cathy Rigby to make the introduction, who in turn brought out Venetian/Palazzo/Sands Expo President and COO John Caparella. “It’s a great show to make history with because it’s the first Chinese show on the Las Vegas stage,” he said. “And that’s something that we’re very proud of. Anyone who had seen the magic of the opening ceremonies and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics will understand why we’re very excited at the opportunity to work with director Zhou.”

Zhou’s sentiments were delivered to the audience by Panda! producer Hui Wang. Through a translator, he expressed the wish that the patrons on hand would allow themselves to be immersed in what they were about to see, which he called “the essence of China.” It is safe to say the audience was immersed, even being treated to a history lesson of sorts when fou-drum playing terra-cotta soldiers appeared in homage to the first emperor of the kingdom that would adapt his name and evolve into what we now know as China.

GeneChing

08-27-2014, 08:22 AM

The work of George Birkadze: Where ballet meets martial arts (http://www.rappler.com/life-and-style/arts-and-culture/67417-ballet-martial-arts-george-birkadze)
Karate kicks and strikes, Jiu-Jitsu grapples and locks, the grace and elegance of ballet – choreographer and martial artist George Birkadze brings all this to his dances

Rome Jorge
Published 5:04 PM, Aug 27, 2014
Updated 6:43 PM, Aug 27, 2014
It takes a tough guy to be a danseur in tights and ballet shoes. George Birkadze, the third generation in a family of actors, soon found out the hard way, growing up in the Georgian capital city of Tblisi.

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COMBINATION. The power of martial arts, the grace and ease of dance. Photo from Facebook

“I started dancing when I was around 13 or 14. Since it was difficult to be in my neighborhood and do ballet and dance, it was absolutely complicated and I understood that I had to defend myself. First this was from movies, it wasn’t something very serious. But when I grew up a little bit, the bullies got a little bit more violent. So that hobby became a professional part of my life. I became a professional fighter and I would say it helped me a lot also with my dancing,” he says.

His life has steeled, tempered, and honed this man like a weapon. He served a mandatory two-year stint in the Soviet military where he was assigned to the Special Forces Division. He earned a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a black belt in Kyokushinkai Karate and in Russian Sambo (Samozashchita Bez Oruzhiya or “self-defense without weapons”), as well as winning several medals in mixed martial arts fights.

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Photo from Facebook

These include titles of 1998 Moscow Kick-Boxing Champion, Russian Army Full-Contact Kyoku Shin Kai Champion 1997, and a Mixed Martial Arts professional record of four wins and one loss. He is currently an instructor at Combat Sports Boston.

But it was as a ballet dancer that Birkadze came to Manila to choreograph his two neo-classical works Farandole and R/J in Ballet Philippines' Blue Moon Gala, to be seen onstage September 26 and 27 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

The Blue Moon Gala is the second of 3 programs of the Ballet Philippines' Blue Moon Series that celebrates the company's 45th anniversary, dubbed the Sapphire Season.

Farandole is a highly athletic group dance with a latin flair set to George Bizet's opera Carmen. Birkadze’s latin-inspired choreography reflects both Carmen's narrative about gypsies as well as Birkadze's stint in Spain where he served as principal dancer in the Young Ballet of Catalonia, dancer and choreographer for the Corella Ballet Castilla y Leon, and performed for the Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona.

R/J is a reinterpretation of Romeo and Juliet that distills Shakespeare's immortal romantic tragedy into a potent seven minute pas de deux. At rehearsals recently previewed by the press, R/J proved to be a vigorous and impassioned dance that demanded the utmost from Ballet Philippines principal ballerinas and danseurs.

It was a choreography one expected of a Bolshoi alumnus, danced with vigor and precision exacted by a warrior.

“The dance is much more difficult than the fight. The injuries are much more dangerous and emotionally it's completely devastating.”

Warrior dance

Birkadze's dance reflects his martial arts. “All the fighters are dancers. All the dancers are fighters,” he proclaims. “There are so many connections: Coordination. Flexibility. Ability. Balance. Muscle memory. It’s just coordinated dance. There isn’t any warrior who couldn’t dance. There is no one. All of them in the world dances before the fight, right? American Indians, bush dance in Africa, my country, Georgians we dance,” he notes.

He does admit to big differences between the two. He attests, “The dance is much more difficult than the fight. The injuries are much more dangerous and emotionally it's completely devastating.”

Don't expect to see something so obvious and crude as kicks, punches, grapples in his dance choreography. But he concedes that the fighter in him still shows in his work. “I definitely challenge dancers to their maximum, I'm putting them at the top of their possibility. I really like that so they feel challenged every time. So it’s not just nice piece but it’s very challenging for them, so maybe that was the pattern of martial arts in my choreography,” he confides.

Listen to George talk about teaching here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA9ve8apO1U

He notes that, though his choreography for R/J was originally premiere for the Sarasota Ballet in the United States, he has tailored it to take advantage of Ballet Philippines unique strengths.

His highly impassioned and emotive choreography also reflects the many challenges he had to surmount in his life. Besides the threat of bullying he had to deal with in his childhood, Birkadze experienced ostracism in Russia, a feeling that became intolerable when that country invaded his native Georgia in 2008 and briefly occupied it.

It is with much heartache that he recalls, “When I came to Moscow the Soviet Union had just crashed, [Georgia declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991] so it was the first where I felt I was different, we’re not part of the country anymore. It was very sad. From there it just made me work harder because, even in school, they didn’t believe me.”

He adds, “This country is a little strange for us, and were not that different from them. That’s why I migrated to Spain. Spain was my home more than Russia, which was very sad, because I think they’re the closest family to me, culture and everything.”

Birkadze first worked in Spain in 1999. Today, Birkadze resides in Boston, Massachusetts where he practices both is ballet and his martial arts.

Karate kicks and strikes from Japan, Jiu-Jitsu grapples and locks from Brazil, ballet from France and Russia, latin verve from Spain, and soon the strength and virtuosity of Philippine dancers – George Birkadze brings all this to his dances.

You’ll be able to see this watch Ballet Philippines Farandole and R/Jat the Cultural Center of the Philippines on September 26 and 27. These are performances that pack a punch.

For details, visit Ballet Philippines' Facebook. For tickets, visit Ticketworld

Writer, graphic designer, and business owner Rome Jorge is passionate about the arts. Formerly the Editor-in-Chief of asianTraveler Magazine, Lifestyle Editor of The Manila Times, and cover story writer for MEGA and Lifestyle Asia Magazines, Rome Jorge has also covered terror attacks, military mutinies, mass demonstrations as well as Reproductive Health, gender equality, climate change, HIV/AIDS and other important issues. He is also the proprietor of Strawberry Jams Music Studio. We ain't got no one in the Philippines here that can go check this out, do we?

GeneChing

09-15-2014, 08:49 AM

We're been here before - sort of - with Comedy of Errors (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49689-Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater&p=1154893#post1154893).

Fairbanks teachers blends genres for 'Kung Fu Hamlet'

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ERIN CORNELIUSSEN/FAIRBANKS DAILY NEWS-MINER
Spotlight: Michael Shaeffer

Michael Shaeffer talks to parents of some of his World Literature students in his classroom at West Valley High School on Thursday, September 11, 2014.

Posted: Monday, September 15, 2014 12:00 am | Updated: 7:22 am, Mon Sep 15, 2014.
Jeff Richardson jrichardson@newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — Michael Shaeffer has a lot on his mind.

He can talk about Aquaman being an overlooked comic book superhero, recite poetry about breaking into Sea World and discuss the unlikely fusion of Shakespeare and kung fu movies.

Shaeffer seems like the kind of guy who would make a fun high school English teacher — which, in fact, is what he is. The 44-year-old Fairbanksan teaches at West Valley High School, an ideal spot to meld his love of learning, language and pop culture.

“I’ve been teaching since ’94, I haven’t worked a day since,” he said with a smile.

In recent years, his role as an educator has complemented a prominent place in the arts community.

He’s directing “Kung Fu Hamlet,” the opening play in the Fairbanks Drama Association season and leading a handful of former students in the production. That includes Jun Shin, who plays the title role in the spoof, which is a deadpan combination of Shakepeare’s tragic tale with Hong Kong martial arts films of the 1970s.

FDA Executive Director Peggy Ferguson said Shaeffer’s experience as a teacher and natural comic timing have allowed him to excel as a director.

“I’m very fond of him and have great respect for him,” Ferguson said. “He’s not only brilliant, but he’s kind, and for me that’s the winning combination.”

Shaeffer started his career as a radio DJ in Brookings, South Dakota, hosting ’80s pop and alternative rock shows for a pair of local stations.

He got nudged out of his on-air role along with a shift to adult-contemporary music, and was eventually shifted to an unwanted sales job.

The change led to his teaching career, and ultimately, his move to Alaska. After he returned to college to earn his teaching certificate and spent a few years working in South Dakota, Shaeffer went to a job fair from the Northwest Arctic Borough School District almost on a whim.

To his surprise, he ended up accepting a job in Kotzebue and packed for a move to Alaska.

“I thought I could do anything for 9 months,” he said. “I ended up there for 3 years and loved it. I can’t wait to get back.”

He spent time in Chevak and Sand Point before arriving in Fairbanks in 2006.

He’s been an enthusiastic performer, appearing in about a dozen local plays and developing an hour-long set of spoken-word poetry. His humorous thoughts include pieces about Patrick Swayze, Elvis and superheroes, among other quirky topics.

He took his slam poetry set on the road last summer, performing a show called “Hot Lava” for audiences in Minneapolis and Kansas City.

Shaeffer said his love of pop culture has helped serve as a tool in education. Although he got his start playing songs now three decades old, the experience provides an entry point for high school kids today.

“Music is a great common ground for students,” Shaeffer said. “They aren’t always going to dial in and connect the dots, but it can make a difference with a reluctant learner or struggling student.”

He received an artist grant from the Rasmuson Foundation this year to teach the Twelve Labors of Hercules in a dozen Alaska communities. He started in Barrow, where his discussion focused on the link between ancient myths and modern comic book heroes.

“It shows we’re still celebrating these myths, and people are still interested in them,” he said.

Contact staff writer Jeff Richardson at 459-7518. Follow him on Twitter: @FDNMbusiness.

GeneChing

09-26-2014, 09:44 AM

Romeo and Juliet would also make a good Kung Fu interpretation from Shakespeare as there's that great Mercutio vs. Tybalt sword fight.

Theater review: To fu or not to fu? Yes, definitely go fu. (http://www.newsminer.com/features/latitude_65/theater-review-to-fu-or-not-to-fu-yes-definitely/article_0b162b9e-453f-11e4-b342-0017a43b2370.html)

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Eric Engman/News-Miner
Kung Fu Hamlet

"Kung Fu Hamlet" is a slapstick silly hit for the Fairbanks Drama Association, running weekends through Oct. 5 at the theater at 1852 Second Ave.
Posted: Friday, September 26, 2014 12:30 am
Gary Black / gblack@newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — With a “pow” and a “wham” and an “umph” and an “ugh,” the Fairbanks Drama Association has kicked off its 52nd season in a spectacularly silly fashion.

“Kung Fu Hamlet,” directed by Michael Shaeffer and written by Gabriel Llanas, is pretty much just like it sounds — the tao of 1970s kung fu flicks merged with the indecisive prince of Denmark if maybe Quentin Tarantino penned a script after watching too much “Hong Kong Phooey” while hanging out with Timothy Leary. Sound silly? It is. And it works.

It’s the story of Hamlet, who’s still seeking to avenge his father’s death, but it’s more than your Shakespearean retelling. It’s Hamlet as a kung fu master — heck, every resident of Elsinore is kung fu savvy here — throwing some killer moves while battling ninjas, evil monks and his ne’er-do-well uncle, Claudius, who’s killed Hamlet’s dad and married his mom to become king. It’s an Elsinore in a Shaolin Temple the likes of which, alas, poor Yorick never saw coming.

The large cast features lots of newcomers to theater, but this isn’t a setback. Hamlet is played comically well by Jun Shin, a third-degree black belt in tang soo do who also acted as fight coordinator for the cast. Had this been a serious “Hamlet,” the young cast of newcomers would face some challenges on stage, but serious this is not. It’s a fast-paced farce of comic timing and kung fu jokes the cast pulls off with ease because of the style in which the play is written.

Being a mashup of kung fu flicks and Shakespeare, much of the dialogue is recited in voice over style with three unseen actors providing voices offstage while the cast mimics the words. It’s a gimmick that takes a little getting used to, but once you get the hang of listening to the off-stage Hamlet while watching the onstage Hamlet, it moves along at a furious pace.

The cast has its standouts — Shin as Hamlet, Skyler Evans as Claudius, Ian Norsby as the slightly gay split personalities of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern — but it’s really the three unseen voice actors who are the hidden stars. Heath Robertson, Paul Adaskiak and Grace McCarthy are never visible during the production but provide the voices for the entire cast. Their change in tone, cadence and inflection is what makes “Kung Fu Hamlet” hilarious; three unseen voices providing a flurry of fast-paced words while the cast acts out the verbage in front of you.

On stage, keep your eyes on Jamie Beversdorf as Queen Gertrude, who coupled with McCarthy’s voice, is the biggest scene stealer of the show as McCarthy does her most shrill Lois Griffin. During a Jerry Springer-style talk show, Queen Gertrude tells her husband King Claudius, “You are not my baby’s daddy!” as Beversdorf goes all New Jersey real housewife on the crowd while deploying her kung fu.

Cheesy? You bet it is, but that’s the beauty of slapstick. You get to be silly and over the top, and the Fairbanks Drama Association has gone over the top well here.

Note also that the performance is family friendly and a great visual for children. They might not know the story of “Hamlet” but they’ll be more than entertained by the kung fu shenanigans on stage.

“Kung Fu Hamlet” can be seen at 8:15 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 5 at the Hap Ryder Riverfront Theatre, 1852 Second Ave. For reservations, call 456-PLAY.

Contact Features Editor Gary Black at 459-7504 or on Twitter at @FDNMfeatures.

GeneChing

03-12-2015, 09:11 AM

"Wuxia is the Chinese version of superheroes, it is our version of The Avengers," Well, wuxia predates Marvel by a few centuries, so really it's like the Avengers (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/article.php?article=1043) is 'our' version of wuxia. ;)

Theatre Practice to stage martial arts epic to mark its 50th anniversary (http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/theatre-dance/story/theatre-practice-stage-martial-arts-epic-mark-its-50th-anniversary-201)
Ground-breaking theatre company The Theatre Practice marks its 50th anniversary with an epic Chinese martial arts play
PUBLISHED ON MAR 10, 2015 10:17 AM

http://www.straitstimes.com/sites/straitstimes.com/files/imagecache/2014_revamp_615x346/20150310/ST_20150310_LISTHEA_111e.jpg
The Theatre Practice marks its 50th anniversary with Legends Of The Southern Arch (above). Over the years, it has staged iconic plays such as The Coffin Is Too Big For The Hole (starring Lim Kay Tong) and Lao Jiu. -- PHOTO: THE THEATRE PRACTICE

BY LISABEL TING
The world of wuxia (Chinese martial arts) is a fantastical one, inhabited by prodigious villains and wandering heroes who forge their own paths though life, defeating oppressors and abiding by their own creed.

"Wuxia is the Chinese version of superheroes, it is our version of The Avengers," says artistic director of The Theatre Practice Kuo Jian Hong.

The company's first wuxia epic, Legends Of The Southern Arch, opens at the Drama Centre Theatre at the end of the month. The show, which also marks the company's 50th anniversary, brings together different generations of theatre practitioners in an imaginary pugilistic world, complete with wire-work acrobatics and flowing robes.

The heroes of wuxia stories are often fiercely independent, tenacious and resourceful. The same could be said of The Theatre Practice, which has its roots in the Singapore Performing Arts School that was set up in 1965, making it the oldest theatre company here.

LEGENDS OF THE SOUTHERN ARCH

Where: Drama Centre Theatre, National Library Building

When: March 27 to April 12, Tuesday to Saturday, 8pm; Saturday and Sunday, 3pm

Admission: $33, $45 and $55 from Sistic (call 6348-5555 or go to www.sistic.com.sg)

MILESTONES

1965: Kuo Pao Kun and Goh Lay Kuan found the Singapore Performing Arts School in Clemenceau Avenue. Later that year, the school starts its first ballet course by Goh.

1966: The school moves to 12 Sommerville Walk in Serangoon. The first drama course is started, taught by Kuo.

1973: The school is renamed Practice Theatre School.

1976: Both Kuo and Goh are arrested, alongside nearly 50 others, for alleged communist activities and detained under the Internal Security Act. While Goh is released after two months, Kuo is detained for four years and seven months.

1984: The school is renamed the Practice Performing Arts School.

1986: Under the school, the Practice Theatre Ensemble is founded. This performing wing later evolves into The Theatre Practice.

1988: The Practice Performing Arts School moves to its current premises at the Stamford Arts Centre in Waterloo Street.

1996: The school forms The Finger Players, a company which uses both traditional and contemporary puppetry in their works. The Finger Players becomes independent and splits from its parent company in 1999.

1997: The Practice Theatre Ensemble is renamed The Theatre Practice. Practice Performing Arts School continues to operate.

2000: The Theatre Training and Research Programme is established. It is now known as the Intercultural Theatre Institute and helmed by Cultural Medallion recipient T. Sasitharan.

2002: Kuo Pao Kun dies of liver and kidney cancer at age 63. Wu Xi and Kuo Jian Hong become co-artistic directors, but Wu steps down in 2005.

2010: The Practice Performing Arts School and The Theatre Practice are consolidated under one company, The Theatre Practice Ltd.

GeneChing

03-20-2015, 10:06 AM

More on Nine Scrolls in posts 42 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49689-Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater&p=993887#post993887) & 70 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49689-Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater&p=1172212#post1172212). Maybe this needs its own thread soon...

Martial arts show dazzles audience in Zhengzhou
2015-03-20 13:45CNTVWeb Editor: Li Yan

http://www.ecns.cn/2015/03-20/U542P886T1D158871F12DT20150320134528.jpg

A romantic and poetic Kungfu show -- "Kungfu Revelations: Nine Scrolls" has hit Zhengzhou in central China's Henan Province, attracting a packed house at the Henan Art Center.

A romantic and poetic Kungfu show -- "Kungfu Revelations: Nine Scrolls" has hit Zhengzhou in central China's Henan province, attracting a packed house at the Henan Art Center. The show is a vivid portrayal of the philosophies of Chinese culture in the form of martial arts.

The Yin meets the Yang, as esoteric Chinese philosophy is embodied in martial arts.

"Kungfu Revelations: Nine Scrolls" uses a poetic and dramatic form of Kungfu to interpret and portray the very soul of Chinese culture, art, and philosophy. The combination creates a new language of movement, unlocking ancient wisdom for a modern audience.

"Kungfu is transformed into poetry by the infusion of Chinese philosophy. I believe this takes the show far beyond a mere Kungfu stunt," said Yu Yang, producer of "Kungfu Revelations: Nine Scrolls".

The show is divided into 9 parts and each has a theme that audience can relate to. It strikes to the very core of man's spiritual struggle, that we are all on a journey to completeness, peace and purity.

"This show is not just about Kungfu. It guides you into the depths of our culture. I love this artistic portrayal," said an audience.

Since debut in 2008, "Kungfu Revelations: Nine Scrolls" has been performed in major cities in China. It also has won applause from packed houses when the show toured in countries including the United States, Australia and Switzerland. Missed that U.S. tour...:o

GeneChing

03-25-2015, 09:52 AM

Here's a different one.

'The Thorn' Large-Scale Production Mixes Martial Arts, Acrobatics in Portrayal of Gospel Message at New Life Church Founded by Ted Haggard (ttp://www.christianpost.com/news/the-thorn-large-scale-production-mixes-martial-arts-acrobatics-in-portrayal-of-gospel-message-at-new-life-church-founded-by-ted-haggard-136203/)
BY MICHAEL GRYBOSKI , CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER
March 25, 2015|11:04 am

http://images.christianpost.com/full/82063/full.jpg
(PHOTO: COURTESY OF TED MEHL/"THE THORN")
A scene from "The Thorn," a version of the Gospel story that features dance, music, acrobatics and martial arts.

"The Thorn," a theatrical adaption based on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that includes acrobatics and martial arts, will be performed at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, which was founded by its former pastor, Ted Haggard.

The play is the product of John Bolin, a former youth pastor at New Life Church, who in an interview with the Gazette, described "The Thorn" as "the Bible on stage like you've never seen it."

Derived from a 1990s high school play that's produced with a cast of hundreds, "The Thorn" will be performed at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, starting on Thursday.

"I think God likes it when we tell a story. From the artistic side, when we do something beautiful like this, it sticks, it grows," Bolin asserted.

Sarah Bolin, executive producer at Thorn Productions and wife of John, spoke to The Christian Post about what makes this production different from other theatrical versions of the Gospel story.

"'The Thorn' is different in that it involves local volunteer actors and professionals who tell the story; it explores the supernatural perspective of the Gospel story (angels and demons), and uses multiple artistic and athletic talents," she explained.

"We tour with the production and are in six cities this year. Colorado Springs is our longest running annual show on its 19th year. Also, 'The Thorn' is not a play with speaking parts. There is a narrator and the rest of the scenes are acted to music with live singers."

The most recent tour of the production began earlier this month with performances in Fort Worth, Texas, and will culminate in Nashville, Tennessee, next month.

On its website, "The Thorn" is described as "a visually dynamic and heart-stirring theatrical portrayal of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ."

"'The Thorn' combines martial arts, aerial acrobatics and emotionally powerful performances that have been engaging audiences across the U.S. for almost 20 years," the description continues. "To help bring this timeless story to life, 'The Thorn' recruits large-scale casts of professional and volunteer performers who share in the heart of 'The Thorn.'"

New Life Church is promoting the performances, five scheduled over four days, with a link on their home page. "[W]itness the Gospel message presented in a powerful way. Using narrative, visuals, movement and music to tell the story of the Cross. Often described as The Passion meets Cirque du Soleil, the show has expanded over the years to include aerial acrobatics, pyrotechnics, dynamic visuals and special effects."

"Also on board are dancers from the Ballet Society of Colorado Springs, who will perform during the Colorado Springs dates," the Gazette reports. "Ballet Emmanuel, a professional Christian ballet company, will perform at other stops on the tour."

When asked by CP about the value of theatre as a way to convey the Gospel, Bolin responded that she thinks "telling the story in a variety of ways is valuable."

"We love the arts and theater because it gives so much space for creativity, variety, and artistic expression," she added.

"'The Thorn' involves martial arts, dance, aerial arts, acting, singing … it's rare to have the vehicle to be able to combine all of these talents in once space. We truly love it!"

GeneChing

05-12-2015, 08:52 AM

Not sure there is any actual Kung Fu in this show, but I like the poster.

BWW Reviews: GROUNDLINGS KUNG FU BATTLE ISLAND - The Ultimate Destination of Laughter (http://www.broadwayworld.com/los-angeles/article/BWW-Reviews-GROUNDLINGS-KUNG-FU-BATTLE-ISLAND-The-Ultimate-Destination-of-Laughter-20150511#)
May 11 6:26 AM 2015
by Gil Kaan

http://newimages.bwwstatic.com/upload11/1002220/GroundlingsKungFu72.jpg

Groundlings Kung Fu Battle Island/written by The Groundlings/directed by Jim Rash/Groundlings Theatre/thru July 11, 2015

Groundlings Kung Fu Battle Island, the latest in The Groundlings' continued, well-oiled, laugh-filled Friday & Saturday night shows, just keeps the fine-tuned physical comedy and the hysterical jokes flowing. Adeptly directed by Oscar-winning screenwriter Jim Rash, the evening of fifteen skits and improv pieces receives great punctuation and able accent from the amazing Groundlings Band (Howard Greene on drums, Larry Treadwell on guitar, and musical director Willie Etra on keyboards), as well as, the perfectly-timed sound cues and effects designed by Paul Matlock. The Groundlings Band also keeps the audience entertainingly charged and energized throughout the necessary but very efficient and smooth set changes.

The ultra-talented Groundling members performing in Groundlings Kung Fu Battle Island include: Lauren Burns, Jim Cashman, Laurel Coppock, H Michael Croner, Ryan Gaul, Annie Sertich, Mitch Silpa, and Greg Worswick.

The evening begins with a stunning opener - "Sleepover" written by Sertich. Sertich plays the "lame" mom of a high schooler who's invited a couple of his friends over for the evening. To illustrate her 'un-lameless," Sertich's Mom acts out (using sign language and body language) the lyrics to Abba's "Take a Chance on Me" to great comic effect. With her "lameness" further challenged by the kids, she takes on the hip-hop song "Bang Bang" to maximum comedic effect. Whoa! Brava Ms. Sertich!

In "Coffee" (written by Coppock, who you'll recognize as "Jan" in the Toyota commercials), Coppock plays a very, very annoying co-worker repeated trying to join in a coffee break with Sertich and Burns. Coppock's machinations ramp up to the physical schtick reminiscent of Martin Short's Ed Grimley. Short would be most flattered!

http://newimages.bwwstatic.com/upload11/1002220/GroundlingsKungFuposter.jpg

In "The Final Rose," a spoof of "The Bachelor" (written by Croner and Worswick), the two of them, in drag, remain the final two that Bachelor Gaul has to chose between to send home. Both individually, then alternately, plead the case for Gaul to present the final rose to the other. Croner's and Worswick's alternating riffs prove more and more over-the-topping, as each attempt to outplead the other. Too funny!

And who's says comedy can't be seriously touching? In "We'll Hook You Up" (written by Croner and Cashman), Croner's a care-free car rental agent with his double-teaming spiel down pat with dispatcher Cashman. The two of them's so slick persuasive, they charmingly upsell every potential renter that walks in with promised visions of coolness and fawning women. That is until Worswick appears. Their pitch doesn't work on him as he's not out to party, but to take his little girls and family to an amusement park. Both Croner and Cashman realize how shallow and immature they both remain and begin to break down in tears while dispensing grown-up advice to Worswick. Both nail their 'instant' maturation quite convincingly. So sweet! So touching! Soooo hilarious!

"High School Aerobics Finals" (written by Gaul and Coppock) have the pair of them as the ****iest teenage aerobics team ever. Their moves and striked poses must have been very difficult to learn--like every wrong movement one could do, but their efforts pay off big time in continuous guffaws.

"Landing Patch" (written by Croner and Gaul) takes place on a plane with Coppock and Gaul travelling as a couple and being waited on by the steward Croner. As Croner and Gaul notice each other's soul patch, they both compliment each other. The compliments lead to comparing necklace charms which they coincidentally got at a Counting Crows concert years ago they both attended. As their mutual admiration society grows, the ignored Coppock sitting in the middle of the two men starts to get irritated. The attraction just swells leading Gaul to follow Croner jumping out of the plane. This riotous sketch of bromance does have a happy ending!

The evening ends with "Hot Wheels" (written by Sertich and Silpa). Set in a nursing home, Sertich and Silpa compete in a talent contest. They're wheeled around in their wheelchairs by their dancing caretakers Worswick and Burns. In between their well-executed choreography, these stage-struck custodians pose Sertich and Silpa in assorted ta-da! poses that comically result in one's face in the others crotch or Silpa's hands on Sertich's breasts or other compromising positions. Great closer! Great show!

Final note: How incredibly generous of all these talented performers taking their turns fully supporting the others, never upstaging the scripted leads. Great teamwork! Great troupe!

www.groundlings.com

GeneChing

06-15-2015, 09:13 AM

Although I surely support this, they could have researched their swords (http://www.martialartsmart.com/weapons-chinese-weapons-tai-chi-swords.html) a little more...:rolleyes:

Posted June 13, 2015 - 9:03am
Story Theater Company researches martial arts, Chinese culture to bring ‘Mulan’ to stage (http://amestrib.com/entertainment/story-theater-company-researches-martial-arts-chinese-culture-bring-mulan-stage)

http://amestrib.com/sites/amestrib.com/files/styles/large/public/field/media/web1_06-14-Story-Children-Theater-5.jpg?itok=pOtFutDH
The cast of Story Theater Company's "Mulan Jr." performs during a rehearsal in Ames City Auditorium on Wednesday, June 10. The production, based on the classic Disney film, required the cast and crew members to research both martial arts and the Chinese culture. The show opens on Friday and will perform for two weekends. Photo by Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune

By Julie Ferrell, Staff Writer
jferrell@amestrib.com

When the cast of Story Theater Company’s latest production first met to begin rehearsals, they knew it would be a challenge bringing a well-known Disney movie to the stage.

But on top of that, the cast and crew got to work researching the Chinese culture to help create a more vivid production of “Mulan Jr.,” which opens in City Auditorium on Friday.

The story takes place in ancient China, when the Chinese army drafts Mulan’s aging father for an upcoming battle against the Hun invasion. Mulan decides to disguise herself as a boy and enters the army to spare him. When the Huns invade, it’s up to Mulan to help save the Emperor and all of China.

While the musical follows the 1998 Disney movie, which includes popular songs such as “Reflection” and “I’ll Make a Man Out of You,” assistant director Mabel McIntosh said the cast was asked to research the legend of Mulan, a story which originated in the ancient Chinese text, “The Ballad of Mulan.” The cast even held a competition, in which the actor who found the most interesting fact from the original story won a prize.

“We got into a lot of the martial arts side, and then the costumes will really bring to life the historical part of it,” said McIntosh, 16.

McIntosh said the production team wanted to create strong visuals in the show, which included the use of martial arts and sword fighting. A fight choreographer was brought in, and several fight scenes were incorporated into the show. At one point, several actors are involved in a large slow-motion swordplay sequence.

For actors Hannah Wigdahl and Genesee Diggins-Kennedy, the challenge came when the cast had to put the fighting, dancing, singing and acting all together to make the final product.

The production required plenty of work from the cast, but McIntosh said she hoped the actors learned more about researching plays and digging deeper into their characters.

“I hope they take away a new story,” she said. “The person playing the mom probably now knows way more about how Chinese mothers felt during the war. I hope they take away the depth we’ve put into it, and what every person is feeling in this situation.”

-----

Mulan Jr.

Where: Ames City Auditorium

When: 7 p.m. June 19 and 26; 2 p.m. June 20, 21, 27 and 28

Cost: $7 in advance at the Ames Community Gym or from any cast or crew member; $10 adults and $7 children and students at the door
- See more at: http://amestrib.com/entertainment/story-theater-company-researches-martial-arts-chinese-culture-bring-mulan-stage#sthash.iBJovzZA.dpuf

GeneChing

06-25-2015, 09:14 AM

...but totally relevant here.

Kung fu theater (http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/928670.shtml)
By Liao Danlin Source:Global Times Published: 2015-6-24 18:53:01
Lack of story hurting martial arts performances in China

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Performers stage a scene from play Kung Fu Poetry in Zhengzhou, Henan Province in March. Photo: CFP

Bringing a Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee movie to the stage as a live performance can be a very tempting idea for production companies. However, actually making such a production a reality may be far more difficult than producers ever imagined.

Over the past few years, all kinds of action dramas have been produced all over China. Local governments, martial arts training schools, as well as production companies have all made attempts to bring audiences into theaters for some kung fu action.

This trend continued this year, as a number of performances hit stages during the first half of 2015.

Martial Arts, Legendary, a co-production by the Jingwu County government in Tianjing and the Huo Yuanjia Civil and Military School, presents the 4,000-year history of Chinese martial arts and the life story of martial artist Huo Yuanjia.

Eleven Martial Artists, created by the Chinese Dragon Martial Arts Troupe, combines elements of ballet, modern dance and drama as well as a video montage to recreate the life of Bruce Lee.

The Guangzhou Drama Art Center and Huaman Brother's Messy Temple is an adaptation of the comic book series of the same name. The series has already been adapted into several movies that were all well received at the box office.

These action dramas keep up the excitement by presenting intense fighting scenes featuring dangerous acrobatics. Many of the shows begin and end with a fight. Sometimes the fighting can even go on for 20 minutes to a half an hour.

Performers are mostly from martial arts training schools. However, although the martial arts sections of such shows can sometimes match the brilliance seen in blockbuster martial arts films, these performances have had a hard time staying popular enough to convince investors to pour more money into them.

Last weekend, South Korean martial art show Jump was held at the Poly Theater in Beijing. The performance will also be heading out on a broader China tour this summer. Originally called Crazy Family, the show premiered at the National Theater of Korea in 2002 and has been performed in over 40 cities around the world to date.

Cara Han, the producer of Jump, told the Global Times in an e-mail interview that she feels the reason that many of China's action dramas fail to achieve expected results may be due to "the story not fitting the martial arts genre or vice versa, or the fact that some performances focus mainly on martial arts which eventually bores the audience.

"I believe that although Jump is a non-verbal performance, it has been able to succeed internationally due to the fact that it contains a well thought out story along with presenting the qualities of individual characters. Jump also represents Asia's martial arts working side-by-side with slapstick comedy. It is also to my belief that another reason for its success is that the different martial arts used by the family helps keep the audience interested."

For Han, Jump was "planned and made with no thought to separating Eastern and Western audiences." The success of Jump may offer an example for production companies in China that seek to take their action shows overseas. Presenting the concepts behind marital arts in a simple way that can bypass language barriers is probably the way to go instead of spending time boring audiences by trying to explain concepts such as yin-yang to audiences.

GeneChing

09-09-2015, 09:06 AM

Cloud Gate Troupe Takes ‘Rice’ to Howard Gilman Opera House (http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/13/arts/dance/cloud-gate-troupe-takes-rice-to-howard-gilman-opera-house.html?_r=0)
By JACK ANDERSON SEPT. 9, 2015

http://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/09/13/arts/13WEEKEND2/13WEEKEND2-master675.jpg
Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan in Lin Hwai-min’s “Rice.” Credit Liu Chen Hsiang

When 24 dancers from the Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan step onto the stage in Lin Hwai-min’s “Rice,” they are metaphorically crossing a field in a tribute to their island’s essential agricultural crop.

Multicultural in its vision, Cloud Gate, one of Asia’s most important contemporary companies, is known for its deft mixtures of choreographic styles and theatrical effects. “Rice,” an attraction of this year’s Next Wave Festival, blends ballet, modern dance and martial arts; the bamboo poles that its performers carry variously represent agricultural implements, stalks and weapons. To prepare for “Rice,” a celebration of the cycle of planting and harvest, the cast spent time working with farmers in the fields.

Video projections sweep across landscapes and narrow in on details of plants to depict Taiwan’s rice-growing regions, and the accompaniment is a musical collage that encompasses Taiwanese folk songs and European lieder and operatic arias. (7:30 p.m., Sept. 16-19, Howard Gilman Opera House, bam.org.)

A version of this article appears in print on September 13, 2015, on page AR2 of the New York edition with the headline: The Stage Is Their Field

Hope it's not counterfeit rice (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?57980-Chinese-Counterfeits&p=1286598#post1286598).

GeneChing

10-07-2015, 02:11 PM

Hui Ban Dance Drama (https://www.cityboxoffice.com/eventperformances.asp?evt=2072)
The Story of Anhui Opera Troupe During 1911
Saturday, October 10, 2015 7:00 PM PST
Herbst Theatre San Francisco, CA

http://www.cityboxoffice.com/UPLImage/HuiBan.gif

Video Preview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5yZjEKLZVA

The Anhui Provincial Opera Dance Drama Theatre, one of China's leading theater organizations, travels to San Francisco to perform its award-winning dramatic dance production, "Hui Ban - The Story of Anhui Opera Troupe During 1911." The event will be presented by US Chinese Dance Association and sponsored by China National Arts Fund.

This colorful and dramatic dance production tells the tale of theater people during a series of extraordinary events that took place in 1911, the year of the Xinhai Revolution, by which China's final imperial dynasty (the Qing dynasty) was overthrown, the "Last Emperor" (the child Puyi) abdicated his throne, and the Republic of China was founded. The story focuses on brotherhood, love, conflicts, and the turbulence faced by those living and trying to keep tradition alive in a tumultuous time, particularly the passionate and determined opera singers whose artistic dreams will be swept away by fate.

You know this one is authentic because according to the promo vid, it's 'Award Wining' ;)

GeneChing

01-20-2016, 03:15 PM

Obligatory Chinese New Year shows. Needs a lion dance (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?1093-Chinese-Lion-Dance).

POSTED ON 01.19.2016 9:45 A.M.
Sino West Performing Arts to Showcase Kung Fu, Classical Dance at Chinese New Year Extravaganza (http://www.noozhawk.com/article/sino_west_performing_arts_to_showcase_kung_fu_clas sical_dance_at_chinese_ne)

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Sino West’s showcase will feature both Chinese classical and folk dances, as well as kung fu. (Sino West photo)
SOURCE: VICKI WANG FOR SINO WEST PERFORMING ARTS

Sino West Performing Arts, a dance and kung fu school in Goleta, is presenting a spectacular show in honor of Chinese New Year 2016, the year of the monkey: Chinese New Year Extravaganza.

The show will feature youth and adult students, professional instructors and performers, and special guest dancers performing traditional and folk Chinese dances and Shaolin kung fu and weaponry demonstrations.

Beautiful Chinese arts, colorful costumes and majestic music will take the stage at Elings Performing Arts Center at Dos Pueblos High School Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016.

A lot of people do not know about nor have seen Chinese dance and kung fu before, therefore this Chinese New Year Extravaganza show presents the opportunity to let the community see and celebrate diversity in performing arts.

Chinese dance is an ethnic dance style from China, utilizing Chinese music, costumes and stories. There are two kinds of Chinese dance: classical and folk, both of which will be showcased at the Chinese New Year Extravaganza show.

Classical Chinese dance is technically similar to ballet, but the style is more free flowing, expressive, flexible and acrobatic. Classical Chinese dance draws upon its centuries of history.

Its unique moves evolved and combined movements taken from ancient paintings, nature, Chinese opera and kung fu, and they usually tell a story or represent something of nature.

Common classical Chinese dances use flowing silk fans, long water sleeves or other props to enhance the movements and imagery of the stories.

Classical Chinese dances that will be performed during the Chinese New Year Extravaganza include “Hero,” a strong and athletic men’s dance telling the story of assassins after the Qin emperor of China; “Love Lotus,” a graceful yet acrobatic dance portraying the lovely lotus flower; “Spring Breeze,” utilizing a circular fan prevalent during the Tang Dynasty; and “Falling Rain,” a kids’ dance using silk fans and representing the spring rain bringing life to nature.

Folk Chinese dance are ethnic minority group dances that represent each minority tribe’s dance style. There are 56 officially recognized ethic groups in China, each with their own very distinct tribal costumes, music, movements and narratives. Most dances within a certain minority group have similar characteristics and are very different from the others.

For example, during the show, there will be an ethnic minority dance from Mongolia. Horse culture is very important in Mongolia, therefore the majestic music for the dance “Swan Geese” is distinct with the horsehead fiddle, a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument considered a symbol of the Mongolian nation, and the costumes look like those of horse riders.

The dancers portray swan geese, a rare large goose with a natural breeding range in inland Mongolia, returning home; representing Mongolian people who have traveled to the cities to work, yearning for their homeland.

One does not have to understand nor know the different regions of dances or the characteristics of the dances, they are just beautiful and entertaining to watch.

One additional dance of note that will be performed is “Jasmine Flowers,” a Chinese ballet blending East and West with mostly traditional ballet moves combined with silk fans, set to the popular Chinese folk song Mo Li Hua (茉莉花) from the 18th century.

All of the dances that will be showcased at the Chinese New Year Extravaganza are truly wonderful and portray the beauty, strength and exceptionality of Chinese dance.

Chinese kung fu is a form of martial arts emphasizing peace within oneself and with one’s enemy. It is a more defensive style of martial arts, while also being a very acrobatic, strong and flowing.

Shaolin kung fu is one of the earliest forms of Chinese martial arts and is often considered the birth of all martial art styles.

Similar to Chinese dance, there are centuries of history behind kung fu. It originates from the Shaolin Temple monks of Henan, China, where they developed kung fu for two reasons: 1) the monks were sometimes bullied because they are a passive and peaceful group and therefore needed a form of self defense, and 2) it is very cold in Henan and they needed to exercise and produce internal strength and heat.

Within kung fu, or “wushu,” there are many branches. There are forms that mimic animals, some very acrobatic, some low-impact like tai chi, styles for show, styles for practical fighting and more.

There so many aspects of Chinese kung fu that makes it interesting, practical, beneficial and beautiful as a form of art.

Kung fu was also made popular in Hollywood with masters such as Bruce Lee and Jet Li and more recently for children with Kung Fu Panda.

In Sino West’s Chinese New Year Extravaganza, you will see performances of kung fu and acrobatics skills, incredible weaponry exhibitions and exciting duels. Sino West is proud to present exciting kung fu to Santa Barbara.

The word Sino means “Chinese” and is pronounced “sī-,nō.” The studio is called Sino West because they are proud to excel in both Chinese and Western styles of performing arts.

Sino West is the only studio in Santa Barbara County that has Chinese performing arts, offering classes for kids and adults in acrobatics, ballet, Chinese dance, contemporary, hip hop, jazz, Zumba, yoga, tai chi, qi gong and kung fu. It aims to be a welcoming, fun, diverse and talented place for students of all ages, sizes, genders, nationalities and abilities.

Sino West is directed by Vicki Wang and Dragon Sun. Wang is a graduate of UCSB and grew up training in ballet, Chinese dance and gymnastics in the Silicon Valley of California.

As a young child, Chinese dance helped her connect to her Chinese culture in a fun, physical and beautiful way. Her love of dancing and her experience in business led to the opening of Sino West Performing Arts in Goleta in September of 2011.

Sun is a kung fu, acrobatics and Chinese dance master from Harbin, China. He started martial arts at the age of six and went on to a performing arts school, training day and night perfecting Chinese arts.

Sun then joined a professional performing arts troupe at the age of seventeen, touring the world performing a combination of martial arts acrobatics and Chinese culture.

He is a disciple of Shi Yongxin, the current abbott of Shaolin Temple. Wang and Sun met while performing with the Chinese Performing Artists of America, in San Jose, Calif. Since then they have been passionate about teaching, producing and introducing Chinese arts to all.

Both Wang and sun emphasize that you do not have to be Chinese to participate in Chinese dance or martial arts: Sino West has students of all ethnicities learning Chinese arts. Their students just love the art, the exercise and the confidence dance and kung fu provide them.

An exciting treat of the show is that the talented teachers and owners of Sino West studios will be showcasing as well. By taking the stage themselves and showing everyone, especially their students, what they can do is inspiring and will make the show fun and amazing.

Sino West invites everyone to come watch their Chinese New Year Extravaganza. It will be a beautiful and exciting show that Wang, Sun, and their students have been working very hard for and are very proud of.

Instructors and students alike would like to wish everyone 新年快乐, “Happy New Year.”

The show will take place at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6, 2016, at Elings Performing Arts Center at Dos Pueblos High School.

Tickets are $15 for general admission and $10 with student I.D. They will be on sale at Sino West studios, online or at the show.

For more information about Sino West, visit www.sinowestsb.com or contact 805.967.2983 or vicki@sinowestsb.com.

— Vicki Wang is the executive director of Sino West Performing Arts.

GeneChing

04-25-2016, 08:16 AM

Cloud Gate: making dance out of martial arts and meditation (http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/apr/23/cloud-gate-taiwan-dance-song-wanderers)
The Cloud Gate dance company occupies a unique place in Taiwanese society and its founder has become a national treasure. Nicholas Wroe talks to Lin Hwai-min as he brings a signature work to the UK

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Songs of the Wanderers performed by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan. Photograph: Yu Hui-hung
Nicholas Wroe Saturday 23 April 2016 02.00 EDT

The Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan arrives at Sadler’s Wells next month to give one of the last performances of its signature work. Songs of the Wanderers opens with the solitary, still figure of a Buddhist monk standing under a spotlit stream of falling rice. The stage gradually fills with over three tonnes of golden coloured grains – especially shipped in from Taiwan – which form into deep drifts to become the mountains, rivers and desert through which dancers slowly enact the rituals of pilgrimage. Although it draws on Buddhism, the imagery also encompasses more universal readings and the performance is accompanied by the rhythmic chantings of a Georgian choir.

So it is intriguing to learn that this work, depicting a timeless spiritual quest for “asceticism and quietude”, is a characteristic offering from a company that emerged from one of the most turbulent periods of modern Asian geopolitics. For decades following the end of China’s civil war in 1949 the Taiwanese regime led by Chiang Kai-shek had claimed to be the legitimate government of all China, but international recognition gradually eroded and in 1971 it was expelled from the United Nations. Cloud Gate founder Lin Hwai-min was studying in the United States at the time and found himself returning home to an island in which a whole generation were suddenly trying to discover who they were. “There was a lot of energy in literature and the visual arts,” he says. “When I set up Cloud Gate [named after an ancient Chinese dance] we were the first professional dance company. We felt part of a movement in search of its roots. In one respect the mission of the company was to explore what it is to be Taiwanese, as we knew so little about our own home.”

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/2f5e1f3c41ecb98e385a8e251a5c2f167bcabe92/0_3_1677_1974/master/1677.jpg?w=1920&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&
Wang Rong-yu in the part of the Monk in Songs of the Wanderers. Photograph: Yu Hui-hung

At the company’s new theatre, which opened last year on the outskirts of the capital Taipei, Lin gestures in the direction of the Chinese mainland, 110 miles across the Taiwan Straits. “What was important was over there”, he says. Well into the 80s Taiwanese children were taught about Beijing and the Great Wall and how long the Yangtze was. But, says Lin, “we had no idea about the rivers in Taiwan. It just wasn’t in the textbooks. Today you can go to a store and buy half a dozen books on the butterflies of Taiwan, but back then we had to explore for ourselves. City people travelled to the country to see the landscape, the farms, the rituals being carried out in front of the temples.”

Lin’s response was to develop a form of modern dance that, while open to western and other influences, was intrinsically indigenous in its movements and imagery. He notes the same comparisons between boxing and martial arts as between classical ballet and the work he wanted to produce. “In both boxing and ballet you’re tense all the time. In our dance, and in martial arts, you are relaxed in preparation for moments of great intensity. You make a gesture and then you subside again like a wave. And we don’t try to elevate and defy gravity. We submit to gravity and attempt to find a harmony with the earth. When we tour abroad the reaction is always the same for new western audiences. For five minutes they are a little confused and fidgety, and then they find the rhythm and become still themselves. This is not work projected out at an audience, it is work that draws an audience in.”

Cloud Gate occupies a unique space in Taiwanese culture and society. Its open-air summer shows attract audiences of up to 40,000 people. Its logo has appeared on the livery of China Airlines as well as on Taipei metro trains and buses. Lin, universally known as Mr Lin, has national treasure status and on the streets of Taipei is repeatedly stopped by people simply wanting to say “thank you” to him. He says he has become used to the attention and is proud that his work evokes such public warmth. But even he was taken aback when, as we talk at a secluded restaurant in the hills above Taipei, a fellow diner came over to his table to offer three days’ free treatment at a Shanghai hospital, if Mr Lin ever needed it.

Lin was born in Taiwan in 1947, the eldest of five children of Taiwanese parents who had been educated in Tokyo during Japanese control of the island. “We were brought up basically as Japanese kids with quite severe discipline,” he recalls. “My parents spoke Japanese. We knelt on tatami. I was a mixture to begin with. A multicultural *******.” His parents brought western, Japanese and Chinese culture into the home. They had pictures of Goethe and Beethoven on the wall and he enjoyed Japanese tales, songs and Samurai films. By his teens Lin was also into Ernest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald and Jackson Pollock. “We were from a village in the south, and although a gentry family we were familiar with the land and rice paddies. That was a part of me too.”

There was a hunger for dance. Whether we drew on folk tales or history, it was all part of our aud*ience’s lives

Despite this interest in the arts, it was always assumed Lin would go into a profession and he duly studied law at university. But within a year he had switched to journalism, for which he felt better suited having been contributing to magazines since the age of 14. “I always had more pocket money than other kids to buy books or go to movies.” He then went to study in America and won a scholarship to the renowned writers’ workshop in Iowa. When he eventually returned to Taiwan he taught creative writing and journalism and published several novels. But more significantly, it was in America that Lin began a serious engagement with dance.

His interest was first sparked at the age of five, when he saw the Powell and Pressburger film version of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale about a ballerina, The Red Shoes, on TV. (Matthew Bourne has just announced that he will be choreographing a new stage version of the story this year). In America Lin began to take modern dance classes, including at the Martha Graham school in New York. When he returned to Taiwan in 1971 he met some young dancers, who wanted him to teach them. “Then of course they wanted to perform, and so in 1973 Cloud Gate began. We had to pay for so many things I was on the verge of a breakdown after the first season,” he says. “But fortunately we were young and stupid. If we had been sophisticated and calculating we never would have started.”

The company caught the public imagination from the outset, selling out its first two performances in a 3,000 seat venue. “There was a hunger for dance and we connected with people by doing our own thing. This wasn’t Swan Lake. Whether we drew on folk tales or history or calligraphy, it was all recognisably part of our audience’s lives.” Lin prided himself on being a “garbage can of a choreographer”, picking things up from India, Europe and elsewhere in Asia as well as from home. “And we were isolated here and that was wonderful. In New York or London there are giants with long shadows. Here I just had to dig to find the things around me.”

Over the years he has instigated innovative forms of training and preparation for his dancers. Songs of the Wanderers, which was first performed 22 years ago, came out of a trip Lin took to Bodh Gaya in India, the place where the Buddha attained his enlightenment. Although Lin had been brought up as a Buddhist, the journey, and the realisation that Buddha “was not a god, he was a simple human being who had great compassion and that is why he figured out this philosophy about life”, had a profound impact on Lin’s life and work. He had already asked his dancers to work in rice fields to prepare for roles and now he suggested meditation. “We went on to use martial arts, and qigong, an ancient breathing exercise, in our daily training. At first the dancers hated it. They wanted to do pirouettes and jumps. But I asked them to just stand there and drop their eyes and eventually we came up with the work.” continued next post

GeneChing

04-25-2016, 08:17 AM

https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/9dc398465d4d64b717cabb825864e7d869e0cd13/0_236_3500_2100/master/3500.jpg?w=1920&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&
Cloud Gate founder Lin Hwai-min. Photograph: Alamy

The 24 dancers of the company have all come through the Taiwanese system that provides dance classes alongside regular schooling. “From the very beginning we didn’t want performances to be monopolised by the elite,” he explains. “The great majority of our dancers are ordinary kids. Our performances – particularly the big outdoor performances around the country – are a gift and an endorsement and an expectation from the public. And the dancers are connected to the society because it is made up of their cousins and neighbours and parents, even when we are performing in the country to farmers and melon sellers.”

These outdoor performances have also had a wider impact on Taiwanese life. When there were mass political demonstrations the organisers drew on Cloud Gate’s experience of stewarding, providing toilets and so on. “After our performances there is never a scrap of litter left,” says Lin. “When there were political demonstrations it was the same.” Public support for the company was also demonstrated when its studio and offices burned down in 2008. Without Cloud Gate having to launch a formal appeal, 4,500 private donors – there was no government money – contributed over $20m to build it a new home. “This is how we keep going,” says Lin. “We don’t have a big grants. It is a people’s company and a people’s theatre.”

The company is also democratic in its makeup, with dancers ranging in age from 22 to 52. The oldest member, Wang Wei-ming, originated one of the key roles in Songs of the Wanderers and, after leaving the company to teach at university, contacted Lin asking if he could dance the part again before the show itself is retired. “I was very happy for him to do this, but I wanted him to show me that he was still capable and not kidding himself. So he gave us all a dry version and the other dancers just stood and applauded. At 52 he was dancing better than many of them. There was a real substance to the work.” Lin sees those same qualities in dancers who have become mothers, and he encourages them to return to the stage. “They not only have such awareness of their bodies, motherhood itself gives them a perspective about life that comes through in their dance.”

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Songs of the Wanderers. Photograph: Yu Hui-hung

Another long standing – literally – member of the cast is Wang Rong-yu who originated the part of the Monk. “He had no dance background, but is a practitioner of qigong, and I saw him walk into a room and knew he could do it.” His performance, standing nearly motionless for 70 minutes, is a remarkable display of strength, control and concentration. “He is also now into his 50s and that’s partly why I have to wrap this up,” says Lin. “He is so beautiful to look at, but I don’t want to torture him any more, so the work will be performed for one more season in Taiwan and then retired.”

Lin says that he intends to retire too. “The company will go on, even if that doesn’t necessarily mean with my own works. I wouldn’t want it to become a museum. When we began we wanted to perform to, and connect with, the grassroots. Forty three years later we are still doing that, which makes me very happy. This building is the completion of the first stage of my retirement. It is a house to shelter younger artists who can carry on the work. The existence of the company is an accumulation of the energy from society. So long as we maintain that supply of energy, the torch will always continue to burn.”

• Cloud Gate will perform Songs of the Wanderers at Sadler’s Wells, London EC1, 4-7 May (sadlerswells.com), then at the international dance festival, Birmingham, 10-11 May. idfb.co.uk.

Meditation as performance. ;)

GeneChing

04-28-2016, 07:57 AM

...yet amusing enough to be posted here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bDxh-SIk-4

GeneChing

01-27-2017, 09:44 AM

Shaolin comedy?

Review: ‘Incident at Hidden Temple,’ a Noir Too Far (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/theater/incident-at-hidden-temple-review.html)
INCIDENT AT HIDDEN TEMPLE Off Broadway, Drama, Mystery/Thriller, Play 2 hrs. Closing Date: February 12, 2017 Theatre Row - Harold Clurman Theatre, 410 W. 42nd St. 212-239-6200
By ELISABETH VINCENTELLIJAN. 26, 2017

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Ying Ying Li and Tim Liu in “Incident at Hidden Temple,” a new play from Damon Chua. Credit John Quincy

A striking scene in “Incident at Hidden Temple” coolly captures the allure of vintage film noir: A woman (Rosanne Ma) listens to a radio broadcast in a room bathed in chiaroscuro shadows, light seeping in through Venetian blinds. A frisson of mysterious danger hovers in the air. So much is suggested in a few seconds that the lighting designer, Pamela Kupper, should share authorship with the playwright, Damon Chua.

Unfortunately, this second-act opener is too brief and too late to save Mr. Chua’s new play, directed by Kaipo Schwab for Pan Asian Repertory.

In addition to mood, noir is famous for labyrinthine plots (please raise your hand if you have figured out “The Big Sleep”), but the one here is just muddled. As with his previous effort, “Film Chinois,” Mr. Chua takes us to 1940s China. This time, he found inspiration in World War II footnotes, such as Ernest Hemingway’s 1941 trip there and the actions of the Flying Tigers, American pilots who fought the Japanese alongside the Chinese Air Force.

Mr. Chua, however, is less interested in historical facts than in genre tropes. This alone makes the show stand out in our naturalistic contemporary theater, but, alas, he did not stop at thriller and also went for melodrama, romance, spy mystery, political yarn and supernatural fable.

The last inspired the title, which refers to a mystical temple that appears “to men and women who are pure of heart,” as a mischievous blind man (Dinh James Doan) informs a pair of sisters. The older, Ava (Ying Ying Li), finds herself entangled with a Flying Tiger named Walter (Tim Liu), whose gee-**** attitude may conceal something shady, or simply be wooden acting.

A lot happens over the course of two hours, including a plot development reminiscent of “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” but with a Buddhist artifact. Yet what dominate are lengthy exposition and stilted dialogue. “I’m trained in kung fu, just to let you know,” Walter warns before fisticuffs — in the process adding Shaolin comedy to the show’s laundry list of genres.

Incident at Hidden Temple
Theatre Row - Harold Clurman Theatre
410 W. 42nd St.
Midtown West
212-239-6200
theatrerow.org

Category Off Broadway, Drama, Mystery/Thriller, Play Runtime 2 hrs. Credits Written by Damon Chua; Directed by Kaipo Schwab Cast James Henry Doan, Rosanne Ma, Nick Ryan, Ying Ying Li, Tim Liu, Jonathan Miles, Briana Sakamoto Preview January 21, 2017 Opened January 26, 2017 Closing Date February 12, 2017
Upcoming Shows
Saturday January 28 7:30 PM
Sunday January 29 2:30 PM
Tuesday January 31 7:30 PM
Wednesday February 1 2:30 PM
Wednesday February 1 7:30 PM
This information was last updated: Jan. 27, 2017
Incident at Hidden Temple
Through Feb. 12 at the Clurman Theater at Theater Row, Manhattan; 212-239-6200, panasianrep.org. Running time: 2 hours.

A version of this review appears in print on January 27, 2017, on Page C2 of the New York edition with the headline: A Noir Mood in Wartime China.

GeneChing

04-17-2017, 08:52 AM

French-Algerian dance company combines martial arts, hip hop and modern dance (http://www.ocregister.com/2017/04/15/french-algerian-dance-company-combines-martial-arts-hip-hop-and-modern-dance/)

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Compagnie Hervé Koubi will perform “What the Day Owes to the Night” at the Irvine Barclay Theatre on Saturday, April 22, 2017. Their trademark aesthetic combines martial arts,break dancing, acrobatics and modern dance. (Photo by Didier Philispart)

By KAITLIN WRIGHT | kwright@scng.com | Orange County Register
April 15, 2017 at 10:00 am

In 2009, 249 male dancers and one female dancer met in Algiers, Algeria, to audition for an up-and-coming French choreographer Hervé Koubi. The performers who showed up to the casting call were mostly self taught as there are no formal dance schools in Algeria, Koubi said.

“(The dancers) train outside, on beaches, in courtyards, in the street, thanks to videos (on) the internet,” said Koubi in an email interview. “Most of the dancers I met had a good level in dance, especially in hip-hop, break dance and Capoeira.”

Since then, Koubi has taken these street styles and blended them with modern dance and acrobatics to create the company’s trademark aesthetic — one that boasts 15-foot trust falls, b-boy head spins and double back flips.

Athletic prowess aside, Koubi said that the meaning of the work is more important than the spectacle. The tricks and turns just happen to be the vehicle his dancers use to convey the emotions of the piece which, in the case of their performance at the Irvine Barclay Theatre on April 22, explores Koubi’s ancestral past.

“Ce que le joir doit à la nuit” (“What the Day Owes to the Night”) was created by Koubi after he found out that his family was from Algeria, not France like he was led to believe for 25 years.

“One day I asked my father ‘Where do my parents come from? Which part of France?’ And that day my father showed me a picture of an old man dressed in Arabic style,” said Koubi. “My father told me, ‘Here is your great grandfather. He spoke only Arabic and it’s the same for all your great grandparents.’ That was a shock for me. I was not from France, but from Algeria.”

Koubi said he started creating “What the Day Owes to the Night” that day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FLTvS3-eA4

Although the project’s title matches a book by Yasmina Khadra about an Algerian boy who is sent to live with his affluent uncle in a colonial town, Koubi was not inspired by this text, nor was he trying to replicate it.

“For this project I wanted to make light in the darkness of my history. I wanted to make day in the night of my past and the only thing I can tell you is that the piece couldn’t have another name,” said Koubi.

Despite disassociating his dance work with this novel, though, Koubi said there are similarities between himself and the main character that he can’t deny — the most unexpected parallel being that both Koubi and the boy in the novel are chemists with an interest in pharmacy.

In fact, Koubi completed his doctorate in pharmacology and clinical biology at the University of Aix-en-Provence before he decided that the appeal for dance was too strong for him to resist.

Koubi jokes that his parents were “not too upset” with his turn from medicine to dance given that he was soon awarded the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture in 2015.

“I always preferred to have the position of author. I really liked to exchange with the audience, to share my thoughts, and I decided to use the dance medium to express myself,” said Koubi. “Choreography is like an open book for me.”

The upcoming performance of “What the Day Owes to the Night” is an evening-length production set to devotional Sufi music, Bach’s “St. John’s Passion” and a re-orchestration of Algerian composer Hamza El Din’s “Escalay” as performed by the Kronos Quartet.

Regarding his musical selection, Koubi said, “I wanted to build bridges between the European culture I grew in and my roots that are from the other side of the Mediterranean Sea.”

These roots have flourished since Koubi connected with the Algerian dancers, men who he calls his “found brothers.”

Said Koubi: “I had to give life to my orientalist dreams, I had to do it through dance with dancers from Algeria. … I just would like the audience to be moved by what they saw and invite them to share my vision of a global culture, of a brotherhood beyond the frontiers and back.”

‘What the Day Owes to the Night’

When: 8 p.m. Saturday, April 22

Where: Irvine Barclay Theatre, 4242 Campus Drive, Irvine

Tickets: $40-$100

Info: thebarclay.org

Kaitlin Wright has been covering arts for the Register since 2013. She writes about professional dance in Orange County as well as high school dance, music, theater and visual arts for the Varsity Arts section. She is also an occasional contributor to OC Home Magazine and regularly assists Coast Magazine, the Press Telegram and the Register with events listings. Kaitlin lived in Albuquerque, Las Vegas and the Antelope Valley before moving to Orange County for college. She holds degrees in dance and literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine.

I luv Hamza El Din & Kronos Quartet (although I miss Joan Jeanrenaud).

GeneChing

10-25-2017, 10:08 AM

I only copied the first item in this article because it was the only one relevant.

A world of arts: from kung fu to ‘I Ching’ (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/feature/A-world-of-arts-from-kung-fu-to-I-Ching/shdaily.shtml)
Source: Agencies | 00:00 UTC+8 October 21, 2017 | PRINT EDITION

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Martial Art in Dance

‘Martial Art in Dance’

Choreographer Zhao Liang will premiere his latest creation “Martial Art in Dance,” which involves kung fu, during the 19th Shanghai International Arts Festival on October 20-21.

Four young contemporary dancers and three martial artists will put on an intense show of sabre play, sword play, cudgel play and tai chi at the Lyceum Theater.

It is one of Zhao’s many experiments in exploring contemporary dance based on traditional Chinese arts and philosophy. His other well-known experiments include “The Dreams of Zen,” “Escaping from the Temple” and “The Tea Spell.”

“I always believe that there is no impassable boundary among different arts,” says Zhao. “Martial arts, although widely taken as an athletic sport, actually has a rich cultural legacy worth developing in art.”

Zhao says “martial arts” and “dance” both follow the law of the universe and are also deeply connected with the human body and spirituality.

With the theme of “intoxication, exaltation and simplification,” Zhao chose a simple stage setting of only black, gray and white for the work. Crossover music with elements such as minimalism, cello and Chinese pipa (Chinese lute) is used to portray the clash between contemporary and traditional features.

Date: October 21, 7:30pm

Tickets: 180-580 yuan

Venue: Lyceum Theater

Address: 57 Maoming Rd S.

GeneChing

11-21-2017, 09:23 AM

NOV 20, 2017 @ 11:00 PM 739 The Little Black Book of Billionaire Secrets
China Exporting Its First Open-Ended Musical to Broadway (https://www.forbes.com/sites/marchershberg/2017/11/20/china-exporting-its-first-open-ended-musical-to-broadway/#5a093915449d)
Marc Hershberg , CONTRIBUTOR
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/84309715/960x0.jpg?fit=scale
The cast of 'Soul of Shaolin' perform at the Marquis Theatre on January 15, 2009 (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

Along with the latest gizmos and gadgets, China might soon export a Broadway show.

Earlier this month, Shanghai Heng Yuan Xiang Drama Development Company, a Chinese theatrical production firm, signed a memorandum of understanding with Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment to mount the first open-ended Chinese musical on Broadway. It is scheduled to begin performances in 2019.

The ambitious new musical, which is named Shimmer, shines on a spotlight on when Shanghai sheltered 20,000 Jewish refugees escaping Nazi persecution during the Second World War. Similar the popular Broadway musical Come From Away, recounting how a small town in Newfoundland welcomed thousands of stranded travelers after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the Chinese show underscores the therapeutic power of human kindness during dark times.

"Through this drama, the audience can feel the charm of Chinese culture," remarked Sean Stein, the consul general at the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai. "With this play being shown on Broadway in the future, the ties between the Chinese people and Americans will be firmly strengthened," he observed.

Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment, which is not a part of the renowned Nederlander Organization which operates 29 theaters around the world, has been working to establish ties between Broadway and China ever since it was created in 2000. Robert Nederlander, Sr., the father of the founder, served as a Regent at the University of Michigan, and headed the first delegation of American scholars to China in an effort to thaw international tensions in 1976.

“My father’s interests were diplomacy and reestablishing academic connections,” stated his son, Robert Nederlander, Jr. in 2015. “My interest was exploring commercial opportunities,” he said.

Its first Chinese venture on Broadway, Soul of Shaolin, was a special theatrical event that featured Buddhist monks performing martial arts. The limited engagement earned less than $1.3 million over the course of three weeks in 2009, and one critic wrote that it “ultimately seems a pretty cheap enterprise.” It could not compare to the entertainment on other stages in New York.

With plenty of time remaining to tweak Shimmer, its producers are hoping that critics will be a little more welcoming when the show reaches Broadway. “In the next two years, our team will polish the story and the performance to Broadway standards, providing the audience with the highest level of musical art," promised Chen Zhongwei, the president of the Shanghai-based theatrical production firm.

A new Live Theatrical show (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49689-Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater) related to Soul of Shaolin (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?52939-Soul-of-Shaolin)

GeneChing

12-21-2017, 09:29 AM

I think I'd like this.

Shiv Yin: Must-watch mix of Kathak, Bharatanatyam, Tai Chi, and contemporary Chinese dance (http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/shiv-yin-kathak-bharatanatyam-tai-chi-india-china-dance-rukmini-chatterjee/1/1110783.html)
Shiv Yin is a first of its kind dance performance featuring Kathak, Bharatanatyam, Tai Chi and contemporary Chinese dance, choreographed and performed by an India-China collective.
Ananth Krishnan
December 15, 2017 | UPDATED 18:45 IST

http://media2.intoday.in/indiatoday/images/stories/leisure-dec25-7_647_121517014551.jpg

It took just one performance of the Beijing Contemporary Dance Company (BCDC) in Delhi to convince Rukmini Chatterjee, a dancer and choreographer of 27 years' experience, that the future lies in India and China.

"The power of their art forms, the expressions not just of their bodies but of their faces, it was so similar to our own Kathak and Bharatanatyam," recalls Chatterjee, who decided to travel to China to see what would happen when two ancient art forms are brought together.

The result is Shiv Yin, a first of its kind dance performance featuring Kathak, Bharatanatyam, Tai Chi and contemporary Chinese dance, choreographed and performed by an India-China collective, including Chatterjee, Chinese choreographer Teng Aimin, Kathak dancer Kantika Mishra, Bharatanatyam dancer Souraja Tagore and dancers from the BCDC.

Shiv Yin debuted to a curious Beijing audience in November. Chatterjee is pleased with the experiment, but says this is just the first step. "What I'd like to do in my own small way is sow the seeds of understanding and help foster closeness when it comes to creativity between India and China," she says. "This is a beautiful love story that traverses the emotions of love, anger, jealousy and ultimate union, through a vibrant interpretation of classical Indian and contemporary Chinese dance forms."

It explores the concept of male and female, of yin and yang, from the point of view of two traditions, drawing on classical Indian and Chinese poetry as well.

Chatterjee says her time in Beijing working on the performance was eye-opening. She was impressed by the Chinese desire to learn Indian art forms, and found Chinese dancers in some ways more receptive to new ideas than dancers she has worked with in India and Europe. Despite the gaps in culture and language, there was also a surprising familiarity, she says. "At our first recital of Vedic mantras," she recalls, "there was an immediate connection to Buddhist sutras."

After touring China in November, Shiv Yin will travel to India in December, and will be performed on December 16 and 17 at the Serendipity Festival, Goa; December 19 at Alliance Francaise, Hyderabad; and December 22 at Shri Ram Centre, New Delhi.

GeneChing

06-06-2018, 12:01 PM

Because tutus and tabi (http://www.martialartsmart.com/16-08.html)go well together? :p

NINJA BALLET Returns - A Fusion Of Martial Arts With Classical Ballet (https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/NINJA-BALLET-Returns-A-Fusion-Of-Martial-Arts-With-Classical-Ballet-20180605)
by BWW News Desk Jun. 5, 2018

https://newimages.bwwstatic.com/columnpic10/iconsquare1382315287-132628-ShokoTamai-Photo-ToddMuchow-NinjaBallet-29.jpg

NINJA BALLET Returns - A Fusion Of Martial Arts With Classical BalletAward-winning ballerina, choreographer and Artistic Director Shoko Tamai returns with her company of five dancers and martial artists for the 2018 Season of NINJA BALLET at The Secret Theatre, 4402 23rd Street, Long Island City, NY. The company will present five performances, from Thursday, June 28 through Sunday, July 1. The company's new work, "MA," the Japanese word for negative space, will premiere. Live music.

Founded in 2017, Ninja Ballet Dance Company fuses classical ballet with traditional martial arts, creating an immersive and interactive dance theater performance with original music, special effects and fight choreography. Performers blur the line between what is real and what is possible, using acrobatics, fire and weapons, with new technologies helping to facilitate an interactive theater experience. Ninja Ballet seeks to reconnect people with nature and to create a space where dance, music and visual arts merge as one. "We hope to inspire mindful awareness, forming a connection between nature and humanity," says Ms. Tamai.

Live musical accompaniment for Ninja Ballet 2018 Summer Season will be provided by six artists: William Catanzaro on percussion (including Shiva Drum,) Alfonso Montiel on Singing Bowl and Gong, Michael Joseph Burdi on flute and Oud, Kento Iwasaki Watanabe on Koto (traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument,) Edwin Rodriguez (percussion, Indian Drum and Native American flute,) and Vladimir Demin on Handpan Drum.

The production features dance choreography by Shoko Tamai, with dancers Rezy Pardito, Nellie Licul, Kirsten Reynolds, Pan Yu and Edward Reyes; fight choreography by martial arts expert Tony Ortiz.

NINJA BALLET
SUMMER 2018 SEASON
THE SECRET THEATRE
4402 23RD STREET
LONG ISLAND CITY, NY 11101

TICKETS - https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3394261
$30 online $35 at door
Phone: (718) 392-0722

PERFORMANCE DATES & TIMES:

June 28: 7:30pm
June 29: 7:30pm
June 30: 2:30pm
June 30: 7:30pm
July 1: 7:30pm

* ABOUT "MA":

'MA', a Japanese word for Negative Space, or the space between time, occurring in the moment of "Now," and in the imagination of the human being who experiences these elements. Ninja Ballet Dance Company will explore the concept of 'MA' and how it relates to the ancient Mayan legend of Zopilote, a Vulture God who feasts on the newborn.

Zopilote lives in balance between life and death, consuming the dead and giving birth to new life. When Zopilote devours the child of Subaru, a female Ninja, she creates a mortal enemy: a broken-hearted mother who will do anything to exact her revenge. Subaru makes it her mission to find and kill Zopilote, but at the same moment, in the Negative Space, she herself is being hunted by Scorpion, a Ninja assassin set on finding and killing her in retribution for her clan's murder of his own parents.

The cycle of revenge will unfold and blood will be spilled. Will Subaru find peace in her vengeance? Will Scorpion finally get retribution for the crimes of Subaru's clan against his own? Will Zopilote, the ancient and powerful Vulture God of the Mayans, allow the balance of life and death to be broken, or will they all learn the power of forgiveness and finally bury their hatred in the past? All will be answered in the space between time, the moment of Now, the Negative Space!

ABOUT SHOKO TAMAI:

Shoko Tamai has performed in leading venues and dance companies around the world, including the Royal Opera House in London, Lincoln Center, and Jacob's Pillow. She received the Solo Seal award from the Royal Academy of Dance in London and was a finalist in the World Ballet Competition. She studied with Jamie HJ Guan, martial arts trainer from Beijing Opera. Ms. Tamai performed with Dance Theater of Harlem, and with Cirque du Soleil at its inception.

Shoko Tamai has been endorsed by world leading artists, including Arthur Mitchell, Founder of Dance Theatre of Harlem and Keith Saunders (Artistic Director, Dance Theatre of Harlem Touring Company), Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque du Soleil and Abdel Salaam, choreographer at Forces of Nature Dance Theater.

In addition to teaching ballet and other styles of dance from ages 2-86, Shoko Tamai serves as director of "Cosmic Dance Healing," the practice of exchanging negative energy to positive energy via movement and awareness. Her regular classes at the Montauk Salt Cave, Cosmic Arts in Brooklyn, Studio Oasis in Chinatown, The Chapel of Sacred Mirrors (CoSM) and the Brooklyn Academy Of Music satisfy her "sincerest intention to use dance to help heal the world and its people, one happy student at a time."

THREADS:
Martial Arts in Live Theater (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49689-Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater)
Ninjas! (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?44568-Ninjas!)

GeneChing

08-03-2018, 09:08 AM

Wushu show with a twist
(https://www.thestar.com.my/metro/metro-news/2018/07/18/wushu-show-with-a-twist/)METRO NEWS
Wednesday, 18 Jul 2018

BE prepared to be mesmerised by a wushu performance like no other at an opera show titled ‘War of the Red Cliff’ in Penang.

A total of 300 wushu exponents will be acting out the battle known as the Battle of Chibi which was fought at the end of the Han dynasty.

The performance, organised by Ding Feng Wushu Academy, will be held at Dewan Sri Pinang on Sunday.

Ding Feng Wushu Academy co-founder Vincent Khor said they had never planned such a large-scale show before.

https://www.thestar.com.my/~/media/online/2018/07/17/19/22/metn_ptnwu_1807_phj.ashx?h=356&&w=800&la=en
Performers of the ‘War of the Red Cliff’ opera show will enact battle scenes in unique costumes.

“The exponents are acting out the war, which is different from what is usually expected from a wushu performance.

“They will perform the battle scenes clad in unique costumes.

“It will be a one-of-a kind performance as we are trying something different from the usual traditional wushu moves.

“We hope the show will shed light on the martial art,” he said.

Tickets are priced at RM50 for the student show at 2pm and RM60 and RM80 for the 7pm show which is open to everyone.

For further details and tickets, contact Khor (016-4852925), Sandy (016-4926090) or Jack (012-4619154).

THREADS:
Martial Arts in Live Theater (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49689-Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater)
Romance of the Three Kingdoms (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?29873-Romance-of-the-Three-Kingdoms)

GeneChing

09-07-2018, 08:10 AM

‘The Chinese Warriors of Peking’ bring martial arts drama to Rialto (https://tacomaweekly.com/arts/the-chinese-warriors-of-peking-bring-martial-arts-drama-to-rialto/)
By Tacoma Weekly Staff - September 6, 2018

The Chinese Warriors of Peking are bringing their acrobatic and visually spectacular show to the stage of Tacoma’s Rialto Theater on Thursday, Sept. 20, 7:30 p.m. Hailing from China, the ensemble will perform thrilling physical feats fused with traditional Chinese customs to deliver high-intensity martial arts and breathtaking acrobatics. Set during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), this is the tale of two rival martial arts disciplines competing in the ancient Chinese capital of Peking. Under the direction of Qui Jian, this performance provides a culturally enriching experience filled with juggling, acrobatics, and live stage combat.

The troupe will act out a narrative from the history of China: Peking was the capital of the Ming Dynasty between 1368 and 1644. Once year, the emperor held a royal martial arts tournament in Peking, inviting warriors from all over the country to attend. In Tianqiao Square, large crowds were drawn to witness the warriors demonstrating their impressive skill. Every school and discipline of Martial Arts arrived in Peking from all over China. Before the tournament began, the crowd in Tianqiao Square was kept entertained by the Peking Opera girls performing with yo-yos and acrobats giving performances in juggling and contortion. Then, the drums and trumpets sounded as the emperor arrived. “Long live his Majesty!” the crowd chanted as the emperor announced the beginning of the tournament.

All of the different martial arts schools competed in the ring utilizing their various disciplines, techniques, and weapons to thwart their opponents. After several rounds of combat, the two schools left standing were the Shoalin and Wudang warriors. The final round was grueling and tense. The warriors were evenly matched but ultimately the Wudang warriors were struck down and defeated. The emperor rose, stopping the tournament and announced the Shaolin warriors as the winners. The Wudang warriors confronted the Shoalin warriors uproariously in the middle of the ring, dissatisfied with the outcome of the tournament. To settle the tension, the emperor promised that in next year’s tournament, he will offer the Shaolin and Wudang warriors an opportunity to compete exclusively with each other. The Shaolin warriors left Peking hailing their victory while the Wudang warriors vowed to seek revenge and defeat the Shaolin warriors next year.

A year passes as the next royal martial arts tournament finally arrives. It is held at the front square of the royal palace. The emperor arrived very early escorted by a group of female guards. They rode on horses, decorated in magnificent armor with spears in hand. They are followed by an acrobatic families’ presentation of Pagoda of Bowls and Icarian acts keeping the crowd, and the emperor, entertained before the tournament begins.

The emperor announced the beginning of the tournament and the special campaign between the Shaolin and Wudang warriors. Wudang warriors fought hard to seek their revenge as the two schools battled with breathtaking intensity. Ultimately, the contest ended in a draw. Frustrated by the outcome, the Wudang suggested a challenge of their own to determine the winner: one of their warriors must balance atop of four spears to be crowned the victor. The Shaolin warrior passed – the Wudang warriors can’t believe in their eyes. With the sound of drums, the frustrated Wudang prepared to attack the Shoalin once more. Unexpectedly, the emperor jumped into the ring, restraining the Wudang warriors by hitting their acupoints and rendering them motionless. To diffuse the tension once more, the emperor announced that he required both schools to be his royal warriors of Peking and defenders of the peace to the dynasty. The Martial Arts tournament ended as the two schools are appointment to defend the city of Peking together.

Tickets are $29, $39 and $49. For information, visit www.broadwaycenter.org/events/calendar/eventdetail/777/-/chinese-warriors-of-peking or www.facebook.com/events/1856608841025984.

THREADS:
Martial Arts in Live Theater (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49689-Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater)
Interesting Shaolin Monk show (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?43681-Interesting-Shaolin-Monk-show)

GeneChing

09-07-2018, 08:10 AM

‘The Chinese Warriors of Peking’ bring martial arts drama to Rialto (https://tacomaweekly.com/arts/the-chinese-warriors-of-peking-bring-martial-arts-drama-to-rialto/)
By Tacoma Weekly Staff - September 6, 2018

https://i1.wp.com/tacomaweekly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Chinese-Warriors.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1

The Chinese Warriors of Peking are bringing their acrobatic and visually spectacular show to the stage of Tacoma’s Rialto Theater on Thursday, Sept. 20, 7:30 p.m. Hailing from China, the ensemble will perform thrilling physical feats fused with traditional Chinese customs to deliver high-intensity martial arts and breathtaking acrobatics. Set during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), this is the tale of two rival martial arts disciplines competing in the ancient Chinese capital of Peking. Under the direction of Qui Jian, this performance provides a culturally enriching experience filled with juggling, acrobatics, and live stage combat.

The troupe will act out a narrative from the history of China: Peking was the capital of the Ming Dynasty between 1368 and 1644. Once year, the emperor held a royal martial arts tournament in Peking, inviting warriors from all over the country to attend. In Tianqiao Square, large crowds were drawn to witness the warriors demonstrating their impressive skill. Every school and discipline of Martial Arts arrived in Peking from all over China. Before the tournament began, the crowd in Tianqiao Square was kept entertained by the Peking Opera girls performing with yo-yos and acrobats giving performances in juggling and contortion. Then, the drums and trumpets sounded as the emperor arrived. “Long live his Majesty!” the crowd chanted as the emperor announced the beginning of the tournament.

All of the different martial arts schools competed in the ring utilizing their various disciplines, techniques, and weapons to thwart their opponents. After several rounds of combat, the two schools left standing were the Shoalin and Wudang warriors. The final round was grueling and tense. The warriors were evenly matched but ultimately the Wudang warriors were struck down and defeated. The emperor rose, stopping the tournament and announced the Shaolin warriors as the winners. The Wudang warriors confronted the Shoalin warriors uproariously in the middle of the ring, dissatisfied with the outcome of the tournament. To settle the tension, the emperor promised that in next year’s tournament, he will offer the Shaolin and Wudang warriors an opportunity to compete exclusively with each other. The Shaolin warriors left Peking hailing their victory while the Wudang warriors vowed to seek revenge and defeat the Shaolin warriors next year.

A year passes as the next royal martial arts tournament finally arrives. It is held at the front square of the royal palace. The emperor arrived very early escorted by a group of female guards. They rode on horses, decorated in magnificent armor with spears in hand. They are followed by an acrobatic families’ presentation of Pagoda of Bowls and Icarian acts keeping the crowd, and the emperor, entertained before the tournament begins.

The emperor announced the beginning of the tournament and the special campaign between the Shaolin and Wudang warriors. Wudang warriors fought hard to seek their revenge as the two schools battled with breathtaking intensity. Ultimately, the contest ended in a draw. Frustrated by the outcome, the Wudang suggested a challenge of their own to determine the winner: one of their warriors must balance atop of four spears to be crowned the victor. The Shaolin warrior passed – the Wudang warriors can’t believe in their eyes. With the sound of drums, the frustrated Wudang prepared to attack the Shoalin once more. Unexpectedly, the emperor jumped into the ring, restraining the Wudang warriors by hitting their acupoints and rendering them motionless. To diffuse the tension once more, the emperor announced that he required both schools to be his royal warriors of Peking and defenders of the peace to the dynasty. The Martial Arts tournament ended as the two schools are appointment to defend the city of Peking together.

Tickets are $29, $39 and $49. For information, visit www.broadwaycenter.org/events/calendar/eventdetail/777/-/chinese-warriors-of-peking or www.facebook.com/events/1856608841025984.

THREADS:
Martial Arts in Live Theater (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49689-Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater)
Interesting Shaolin Monk show (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?43681-Interesting-Shaolin-Monk-show)

GeneChing

10-19-2018, 07:40 AM

Sounds cute and fun.

Kung-fu witchery conjures stage magic for the whole family (https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/theatre/kung-fu-witchery-conjures-stage-magic-for-the-whole-family-20181019-p50apj.html)
By Cameron Woodhead
19 October 2018 — 3:19pm

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL ARTS FESTIVAL

https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_1%2C$multiply_1%2C$ratio_1.776846%2C$width_1 059%2C$x_119%2C$y_122/t_crop_custom/w_780/t_sharpen%2Cq_auto%2Cf_auto/61899f40d0ac6437db8c52be2da836536038adca
Alice Keohavong as Celeste and Amanda Ma as Por Por.CREDIT:DANIEL JAMES GRANT

THEATRE
A GHOST IN MY SUITCASE ★★★★½
Adapted by Vanessa Bates from the book by Gabrielle Wang
Barking Gecko Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne, until October 21

A Ghost In My Suitcase is superb family theatre – a stylish, big-hearted and vibrant adaptation of a much-loved children's book, delivered with all the vision and polish you'd expect from a major international arts festival.

This is the tale of Celeste (Alice Keohavong), a 12-year-old girl who describes herself as "half-Chinese, half-French, all Australian". Her mother has died, and she's charged with returning the ashes to China to be laid to rest in her homeland.

A journey of grief becomes one of discovery as she connects with her mother's heritage – but it's also a cracking adventure story.

https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_0.453%2C$multiply_1.03%2C$ratio_0.666667%2C$ width_378%2C$x_0%2C$y_77/t_crop_custom/w_390/t_sharpen%2Cq_auto%2Cf_auto/d1465971c5f06469358668ce45fddbfbba4b54c8
Children's theatre at its best.CREDIT:DANIEL JAMES GRANT

You see, Celeste's grandmother Por Por (Amanda Ma) turns out to be a ghost-hunter. She's a complete shoo-in if there's ever an Asian Ghostbusters. Using martial arts and white magic to trap restless spirits, she's a force to be reckoned with, and her skills are in high demand.

The ghost-hunting gift can be inherited by the women in Celeste's family, so what was supposed to be a solemn journey to a place of final rest soon turns into a running battle against the unquiet dead.

Celeste's introduction to the world of the supernatural won't be easy. Por Por already has an apprentice, the bold and spiky Ting Ting (Yilin Kong), who takes an instant dislike to the new kid on the block.

But they'll have to learn to work together: Por Por's past holds a tragic secret, and her ancestral home, Bao Mansion, has attracted a ghost of terrifying power that they'll need every inch of their might to destroy.

Charming performances, especially from Ma as the kick-arse grandma, are matched by lovingly realised design that allows the adventure to sweep and billow across time and place.

https://static.ffx.io/images/$zoom_0.706%2C$multiply_1%2C$ratio_1.776846%2C$wid th_1059%2C$x_0%2C$y_24/t_crop_custom/w_780/t_sharpen%2Cq_auto%2Cf_auto/661abc542e4f196bdcfb7fff0d538b356bda3240
Ma, left, is a particular delight.CREDIT:STEFAN GOSATTI

The thrillingly inventive spookiness of the stage magic is accompanied by a gleeful sense of purpose from the actors, who embrace with delight all the elaborately choreographed kung-fu witchery required to ward off spirits.

Perhaps the one reservation was the use of cartoons, which didn't seem to fit the production stylistically. But everything else about it clicks to perfection, combining to create poignant, memorable and entertaining theatre that neatly balances action and emotion.

Children will be delighted, and adults will be taken with it too.

GeneChing

11-05-2018, 09:37 AM

Masters of martial arts (http://liherald.com/stories/masters-of-martial-arts,108820)
Chinese Warriors of Peking celebrate time-honored traditions
Posted November 2, 2018

http://liherald.com/uploads/original/20181102-122838-SO%201101%20Chinese%20Warrors.jpg
The dynamic troupe demonstrates stage combat, juggling, acrobatics and traditional weapons handling in the fast-paced show.

On Stage
Chinese Warriors of Peking

The acclaimed acrobats and martial artists have gained worldwide recognition touring with Cirque du Soleil. They’ve since gone out on their own; entertaining audiences with a fast-paced production is filled with breathtaking martial arts and elaborate acrobatics. “Slack Wire,” “Pagoda of Bowls” and “Bicycle” are just some of their most famous and successful acts, winning numerous awards over the years. Their current touring production, set during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), relates a tale of two rival martial arts disciplines competing in the ancient Chinese capital of Peking. The fascinating ensemble incorporates juggling, acrobatics, weapons handling, and live stage combat into this high-intensity performance to tell the historical story. The breathtaking and gravity-defying choreography combines artistry and athleticism into an enthralling performance that fascinates all ages.

Saturday, Nov. 3, 3 p.m. $66, $46, $36. Tilles Center for the Performing Arts, LIU Post, Route 25A, Brookville. (800) 745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com or www.tillescenter.org.

Performers combine martial arts, acrobatics (https://www.indianagazette.com/news/performers-combine-martial-arts-acrobatics/article_7089ce38-dea9-11e8-8d6b-674c0c7c1dc6.html)
Nov 2, 2018 Updated Nov 2, 2018

https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/indianagazette.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/a6/8a685e00-dea9-11e8-aa4b-2bd1408b09b2/5bdc5bbad7c27.image.jpg?resize=750%2C498
Michelle Raymond/Gazette

The Chinese Warriors of Peking put on a show with high-intensity martial arts and acrobatics Thursday at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex.

Set during the Ming dynasty, the performance re-enacts the royal martial arts tournament where the country’s finest warriors demonstrated their skills to entertain crowds.

It's been forever since I've seen a show like this personally. I kinda miss them.

GeneChing

11-06-2018, 09:01 AM

Vietgone serves up family, immigration and the Vietnam War with a dash of rap and kung fu fighting (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/review-rmtc-vietgone-1.4889189)

Royal MTC Warehouse season opener offers an unexpected but appealing mix of drama, romance, comedy
Joff Schmidt · CBC News · Posted: Nov 02, 2018 4:00 PM CT | Last Updated: November 2

https://i.cbc.ca/1.4889224.1541174610!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/16x9_780/vietgone-rmtc.jpg
Simu Liu plays Quang in the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre's stylish production of Vietgone. (Dylan Hewlett/Royal MTC)

In most Western writing about Vietnam, the fall of Saigon in 1975 is an ending to the story. In Vietnamese-American playwright Qui Nguyen's Vietgone, it's a starting point.

The 2015 play, opening the season at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre's Warehouse, is "not a story about war — it's a story about falling in love," says Peter Fernandes, who takes on the role of Qui Nguyen in a funny, metatheatrical opening that tells us that the real Nguyen, as playwright, plans to mess around a bit with theatrical convention.

And Vietgone does, with an unexpected but stylish and appealing approach to the story that blends comedy, drama and romance with a bit of rap and a little kung fu fighting.

Yes, it's odd — but for the most part, it works.

https://i.cbc.ca/1.4889217.1541173104!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_780/vietgone-rmtc.jpg
Vietgone tells the story of playwright Qui Nguyen's real parents, Tong and Quang (Simu Liu of Kim's Convenience fame, front), as they try to make a new life in America after the Vietnam War. (Dylan Hewlett/Royal MTC)

The story here follows Nguyen's real parents — Quang (Simu Liu, of Kim's Convenience fame), a South Vietnamese pilot, and Tong (Stephanie Sy, seen earlier this season as one of the leads in PTE's Prairie Nurse).

Post-war, both have ended up in a refugee camp in Arkansas — a situation they react to in wildly different ways.

Tong, who tamps down sentimentality with a tough exterior and biting wit, maintains she has no draw to her home country and is determined to make America her new home.

Quang, meanwhile, is just as determined to find a way to get from middle America back to his family in Vietnam. That's also the goal of Tong's mother, the sharp-tongued Huong (Jennifer Villaverde, in a deliciously nasty performance), whose homesickness manifests in a disdain for the food, the language and the people of America.

Jeff Yung rounds out the cast with a likably goofy turn as Quang's sidekick, Nhan, while Fernandes delights in a series of small supporting parts (his "Hippie Dude" may be worth the price of admission on his own).

https://i.cbc.ca/1.4889229.1541173203!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_780/vietgone-rmtc.jpg
From left to right: Jennifer Villaverde, Stephanie Sy, Peter Fernandes and Jeff Yung. Nguyen laces his script with lots of witty humour and a mish-mash of genre and pop culture references, including monologues delivered in the form of rap songs. (Dylan Hewlett/Royal MTC)

Stories of immigration and culture clash aren't new, but Nguyen makes it clear (with great comic style) from the outset that he intends to dispense with stereotype.

No broken English, bad accents or "earnest, humourless Asian" tropes here. Instead, he has his characters speaking more like contemporary young adults — underscoring the fact that in 1975, that's exactly what his parents, though strangers in a strange land, were.

That also means Nguyen — telling the story of immigrants through the filter of a gen-X first-generation American — laces his script with lots of witty humour and a mish-mash of genre and pop-culture references. That includes monologues delivered in the form of rap songs (not quite Hamilton-level dope, but delivered with panache, and resulting in what is likely the highest number of "motherf--kers" ever dropped on an MTC stage).

https://i.cbc.ca/1.4889235.1541173300!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_780/vietgone-rmtc.jpg
Director Robert Ross Parker's stylish production makes smart use of Hugh Conacher's video projections to take us through various locales and time periods as the play tells the story of Tong (Stephanie Sy) and Quang (Simu Liu). (Dylan Hewlett/Royal MTC)

There's also a bit of slapstick (a courtship montage between Quang and Tong, interrupted by her protective mother, becomes a nice bit of physical comedy thanks to clever use of the sliding panels that make up Joanna Yu's versatile set).

As well, smart use of Hugh Conacher's video projections takes us through the various locales and time periods the story covers, and yes, there's some kung fu fighting — a pretty great, Bruce Lee-flick-style scrap (wonderfully choreographed by Jacqueline Loewen).

It all mixes together more effectively than you'd think it might in director Robert Ross Parker's inventive and energetic 135-minute (with intermission) production, though the script's winking, tongue-in-cheek tone sometimes undercuts the play's sincerity in the first act.

https://i.cbc.ca/1.4889241.1541173392!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_780/vietgone-rmtc.jpg
Not everybody is kung fu fighting in Vietgone, but Peter Fernandes and Simu Liu engage in a Bruce Lee-flick-style scrap, wonderfully choreographed by Jacqueline Loewen. (Dylan Hewlett/Royal MTC)

As the relationship between Quang and Tong — presented by Liu and Sy as believably complicated but still sympathetic characters — grows and shifts, we're drawn into a story that has surprising layers of complexity.

The point Nguyen makes is that the stories we think we know often aren't quite what we thought — whether the story of the Vietnam War, or of "the immigrant experience" in America, or of our parents.

Throw in some good beats and a bit of kung fu fighting, and Vietgone makes for a thoughtful, lively and fresh piece of theatre.

Vietgone runs at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre's Tom Hendry Warehouse until Nov. 17.

Should be Vovinam (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?54318-Vietnamese-Martial-arts) not Kung Fu, but only we know that. :cool:

GeneChing

01-29-2019, 08:41 AM

'Startles' isn't the right word for this article's title - a sure indicator of a Chinese-to-English translation. This company needs to work on their PR.

Chinese Kungfu Startles French “Kung Fu Spring Festival Gala”, Ctrip Helps Promote Henan Kung Fu Brand to the World (http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/4131118)

On January 27th, a Kung Fu Spring Festival Gala named "Dance, Poetry and Martial Arts" came on stage in Paris to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-French diplomatic relations, promoting the cultural exchange and profound friendship between China and France. At the party, Tai Chi and Shaolin Kung Fu, two representative programs of Chinese Kungfu, showed the beauty of different forms of martial arts and condensed the thousand-year tradition and history of Chinese Kungfu.With consummate skill and superb performance, these two programs offered a stunning visual and cultural feast of Chinse Kungfu to the world.

http://www.getnews.info/uploads/295d98aae3d04e5aa0292f0243c015a0.jpghttp://www.getnews.info/uploads/3e89d104f5c353e2876172c49b8fd253.jpg

Shaolin Kung Fu and Taijiquan are excellent representatives of Chinese Kung Fu and high-quality cultural resources of Henan Province. As a symbol of Chinese Kung Fu, Shaolin Kung Fu was formed in the specific Buddhist cultural environment of Shaolin Temple in Songshan, and fully reflects the traditional Buddhist cultural system of Zen wisdom. The outstanding representative of Chinese Kung Fu, Tai Chi, also originated from the land of ancient civilization in Henan. In the middle of the 17th century, Chen Wangting from Chenjiagou, Wen County, Jiaozuo City, inherited boxing from his family, absorbed the strengths of other boxing forms, integrated the concepts of Zhouyi academy and Chinese medicine, and created the world-famous Tai Chi.

http://www.getnews.info/uploads/89b12cbe718fb5a618bd504e6fd26237.jpg

As a sacred place for Chinese and foreign Kung Fu devotees and readers of martial arts novels, Henan Province, has also established a Kung Fu brand in recent years to promote the Henan Kung Fu brand around the world. From Kung Fu culture tour, Kung Fu culture experience to Kung Fu technique teaching, Kung Fu has become a new business card for Henan tourism. In 2018, Culture and Tourism Department of Henan Province also cooperated with the Office of Chinese Language Council International to set up a serious of courses about Chinese Kung Fu in Confucius Institute, such as Tai Chi, aiming to help Henan become a world-class Kung Fu holy land and cultural tourism destination.

http://www.getnews.info/uploads/2cd6ea3ea006a289f94c03c7bc91326e.jpg

Across the five continents in today’s world, nearly 100 countries have established martial arts associations and two branches of Chinese Kungfu (Shaolin Kung Fu and Tai Chi) also attract numerous fans all over the world. Take Europe as an example, more and more Europeans are fascinated by Chinese Kung Fu and we can find thousands of Chinese Kung Fu fans in France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland and other countries. Forefathers-Shaolin Temple and Taiji Holy Land-Chenjiagou have become two must-see places for Europeans to visit China and experience Kung Fu culture.

To better promote the gold medal of "Chinese Kung Fu" to the world, Culture and Tourism Department of Henan Province signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Ctrip Group in 2018 to promote the Henan Kung Fu brand to the world with Ctrip's leading strength in the overseas market. Ctrip has 350 million members worldwide and has strong capability in integrating abundant marketing resources.

Ctrip will also cooperate with Henan Province to build and promote the IP of “Henan Kung Fu Cultural Trip" and help Henan grab the world’s attention with its irresistible charm of Kungfu. In the promotion, “Kung Fu Life, Hometown Henan”, a global marketing plan for Henan Tourism, will be implemented with multi-channel promotion and innovative marketing campaign worldwide.

http://www.getnews.info/uploads/3f9dcc17a86fcfb91448fc82a81bda71.jpg

Till now, Ctrip Government Resource Cooperation Department has partnered with more than 300 destinations and has accumulated rich experiences in promoting destinations to different targeted markets at home and abroad. In the future, Ctrip will further cooperate with Henan Province on Kung Fu brand promotion, products designing and other promotion forms to comprehensively enhance the popularity and reputation of “Kung Fu Tour in Henan” and promote Henan Kung Fu brand to the world.

Media Contact
Company Name: Ctrip.com International Ltd
Contact Person: Alice
Email: Send Email
Country: China
Website: www.ctrip.com

Maybe it sounds better in French.

THREADS:
Year of the Pig 2019 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71112-Year-of-the-Pig-2019)
Martial Arts in Live Theater (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49689-Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater)

GeneChing

02-07-2019, 09:18 AM

I could've sworn I posted about this earlier but I can't find that post now. :o

Play dedicated to iconic martial arts' master is a knockout (https://www.shine.cn/feature/art-culture/1902039145/)
Yang Meiping
11:50 UTC+8, 2019-02-03

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Ti Gong
A scene in the play shows Cai Longyun was lifted up after he defeated Russian fighter named Marceau Love.

A play dedicated to the memory of legendary martial arts master Cai Longyun recently premiered at the Magnolia Theater in Shanghai.

The play "Cai Longyun," produced by Shanghai University of Sport, where Cai worked as a professor, took 18 months of research, script writing and rehearsals.

Cai shot to fame when he was only 14 years old by defeating an internationally renowned Russian fighter named Marceau Love – a man 11 years his senior.

His victory against the 25-year-old provided a boost to China, who at the time was often referred to by foreigners as the “sick man of Asia.”

Born to the son of a famous martial artist, Cai Guiqin, in 1928 in Shandong Province, Cai started practicing martial arts at the age of 4. By the age of 9, he was already proficient in several martial arts’ styles, including luo han quan (arhat boxing).

His name “long” means dragon in Chinese, and Cai was later called “shen quan da long,” or big dragon with magic fists.

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Ti Gong
A scene in the play shows Cai Longyun taught students at Shanghai University of Sport.

After the People’s Republic of China was founded, Cai was selected to fight for the national martial arts’ team. He eventually went on to become its leader in his later years.

He joined Shanghai University of Sport in 1960 to teach and research the martial arts’ discipline. Cai was also vice chairman of the Chinese Martial Arts Association, became a chief judge in many national and international martial arts’ competitions and published many articles and books on the sport. And when China implemented its first martial arts’ belt system, he was one of only three individuals nationwide to achieve the ninth, and highest, degree.

Yet when praised by others he was always humble and said, “I am not a master, I am a teacher.”

Cai believed the martial arts are not only a way to keep fit but also an important discipline to foster national spirit. He said the process of martial arts’ training is a course of "internal and external cultivation."

Lu Jun, screenwriter of the play, revealed he had spent more than a year doing research, interviewing Cai’s relatives, friends and students, and revised the script more than 10 times.

Yu Zhong, a teacher of Shanghai Theater Academy, played the character of Cai as a middle-aged and old man. He was a student of Cai in the 1980s when studying at Shanghai University of Sport.

“Mr Cai was a very gentle and elegant person and I admire him for that,” said Yu. “I have learned many things from him. After I played his character, I got a better understanding of his elegance and humility.”

The play was only performed twice to an invited audience only but the university revealed they plan to stage it for more people in the future.

Cai died in 2015 at the age 87.

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Ti Gong
Cai Longyun

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Ti Gong
A file photo shows the moment when Cai defeated Russian fighter named Marceau Love.

Source: SHINE Editor: Su Yanxian

That third pic reminds me of our NOV+DEC 2005 (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/magazine/article.php?article=624)cover
http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/images/mzine/Cov2005_6.jpg

THREADS
Cai Longyun (play) (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71203-Cai-Longyun-(play))
Martial Arts in Live Theater (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49689-Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater)

GeneChing

05-29-2019, 09:24 AM

The Shed Premieres DRAGON SPRING PHOENIX RISE (https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-off-broadway/article/DRAGON-SPRING-PHOENIX-RISE-Commissioned-for-The-Sheds-Opening-Season-Premieres-in-The-McCourt-20190528)
by Sarah Hookey May. 28, 2019

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Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise, a kung fu musical conceived and directed by Chen Shi-Zheng and commissioned for The Shed's 2019 opening season, will have its world premiere engagement June 22 - July 27 in The McCourt (preview performances June 22 - 26). Co-conceived by Kung Fu Panda screenwriters Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise features movement choreography by Akram Khan; an original score by composer, musician, and producer The Haxan Cloak including arrangements of songs by Sia with additional remixes by composer, musician, and producer Arca; an original production design concept by Tim Yip; and martial arts choreography by Zhang Jun.

"Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise is a modern fable of transformation-two teenagers finding the courage and strength to overcome the forces of greed and power," said Alex Poots, artistic director and CEO of The Shed. "These are themes that run deep in Sia's songs, brought magically to life by Chen Shi-Zheng, our creative team, and an incredible cast."

"There likely isn't a fight sequence in movies, television, or theater that is not based on the traditional martial arts. Now is the time to reimagine the art form for a new era," said Chen. "Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise transforms iconic Chinese images, movement, and philosophy into a contemporary American setting. It is a saga that combines spirituality, animism, and human emotion to explore generational shifts of culture and ideas."

Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise blends an immigrant story of survival and transformation with a mystical exploration of the dualities between life and death, fire and water, old and new. Chen Shi-Zheng integrates a vocabulary of martial-arts movement with music and storytelling to create a groundbreaking new style of immersive theater performance.

The story begins at the House of Dragon, a secret sect in Flushing, Queens, whose kung fu warriors protect the Dragon Spring, an elixir of immortality. Lotus, the daughter of Grandmaster Lone Peak, rebels against her strict upbringing and falls in love with Doug Pince, a charming billionaire. Lotus is too blinded by love to realize Doug's true intentions. After she gives birth to twins, Lone Peak issues a prophecy: Doug will be stopped by a legendary force. Separated at birth, Lotus' twins must eventually come together to face their day of reckoning, when the fabled Dragon Phoenix will rise.

The Shed's commission is the first stage production for screenwriters Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, whose films include the Kung Fu Pandatrilogy. It is also the first experience with scoring for live performance for The Haxan Cloak, who composed new music and remixed four songs written by singer-songwriter Sia-"Bird Set Free," "Out There," "Courage," and "Lullaby"-into an entirely original soundtrack. Two additional Sia songs, "The Greatest" and "Chandelier," remixed by Venezuelan artist and producer Arca, contribute to the powerful instrumental and vocal score.

Preview performances of Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise run June 22 - 26. The commission opens on Thursday, June 27, and continues through July 27, with performances at 8 pm Tuesdays through Saturdays and matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 pm, and Sundays at 3 pm. Tickets to Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise are available at theshed.org and (646) 455-3494.

Located on Manhattan's west side, where the High Line meets Hudson Yards, The Shed commissions original works of art, across all disciplines, for all audiences. From hip hop to classical music, painting and sculpture to literature, film to theater and dance, The Shed brings together leading and emerging artists and thinkers from all disciplines under one roof.

I know a master named Zhang Jun but I don't think this is him.

GeneChing

05-31-2019, 08:30 AM

I usually split indies around the 3rd post.

Inside the International Rehearsal Process for New Kung Fu Musical Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise (http://www.playbill.com/article/inside-the-international-rehearsal-process-for-new-kung-fu-musical-dragon-spring-phoenix-rise)
BY NATHAN SKETHWAY
MAY 30, 2019

The new musical from the writers of Kung Fu Panda will begin performances June 22 for its world premiere at The Shed.

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Elijah Laurant, Jacob Thoman, Coral Dolphin, Yuriko Hiroura, Abdiel Jacobsen, Marla Phelan, and Xavier Townsend Stephanie Berger

The new kung fu musical Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise will make its world premiere at The Shed as a commission for the groundbreaking new venue's inaugural season, with performances set to begin June 22 ahead of a June 27 opening. The musical, co-conceived by Kung Fu Panda screenwriters Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, features a score with original tunes by composer, musician, and producer The Haxan Cloak, as well as new arrangements of songs by pop star Sia.

“Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise is a modern fable of transformation—two teenagers finding the courage and strength to overcome the forces of greed and power,” said Alex Poots, artistic director and CEO of The Shed. “These are themes that run deep in Sia's songs, brought magically to life by Chen Shi-Zheng, our creative team, and an incredible cast.”

Check out the gallery below for a look at Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise's rehearsals, which spanned over New York City and Beijing. Visit TheShed.org for tickets and more information.''

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Totally copy-able to our Sword Hotties (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?41007-Sword-hotties)thread.

GeneChing

06-10-2019, 03:50 PM

No pix tho. I'll split it next time.

Groundbreaking kung fu musical to debut in New York (http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-06/09/c_138127455.htm)
Source: Xinhua| 2019-06-09 01:38:14|Editor: yan
NEW YORK, June 8 (Xinhua) -- A groundbreaking kung fu musical named "Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise" will make its world premiere in two weeks at The Shed, a newly-opened center for artistic invention in New York City.

The musical, conceived and directed by Chen Shi-Zheng, tells the story of a secret sect, in the Flushing area of the city's borough of Queens, which possesses the magical power to extend human life, and the twin brother and sister caught in the struggle to control it.

Alex Poots, artistic director and CEO of The Shed, said the musical is a modern fable of transformation as two teenagers look for courage and strength to overcome the forces of greed and power.

Chen said the musical transforms iconic Chinese images, movement and philosophy into a contemporary American setting.

"It is a saga that combines spirituality, animism, and human emotion to explore generational shifts of culture and ideas," he said.

The production has drawn talented people from around the world. Co-conceived by Kung Fu Panda's Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, the musical features songs by Sia remixed by Bobby Krlic, who is known by his stage name The Haxan Cloak, and Venezuelan artist and producer Arca. It is choreographed by the acclaimed dancer and choreographer Akram Khan.

Fast-paced martial arts combat and balletic dance sequences unfold in front of, around and above the audience in this original production designed specifically for the soaring, flexible space of The McCourt.

The McCourt, The Shed's most iconic space, is formed when the movable outer shell is deployed over the adjoining plaza to create a 17,000-square-foot hall with the good control of light, sound and temperature for large-scale performances, installations and events. It can accommodate a seated audience of approximately 1,200 and a standing audience of more than 2,000.

The musical is commissioned for The Shed's 2019 opening season. It will run from June 22 to July 27.

GeneChing

06-19-2019, 06:55 AM

Can a Kung Fu Musical Get (Way) Off the Ground? (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/19/theater/dragon-spring-phoenix-rise-the-shed.html)
“Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise,” the unlikely offspring of a Chinese-American opera impresario and the writers of “Kung Fu Panda” — with songs by Sia — aims to show just how high the Shed can fly.
By Reggie UgwuPhotographs by Devin YalkinVideos by Mohamed Sadek
June 19, 2019

Half a dozen warriors gathered at the base of a striated plateau, cracking jokes and letting off steam before the moment of truth. “You ready?” said Abdiel Jacobsen, tall and muscular, turning to Xavier Townsend, whose slight frame bloomed into a mop of dreadlocks.

“I’m ready,” Xavier said, knowing his time had come.

He raised both fists high above his shoulders and stepped toward the spotlight, where he was surrounded by a throng of technicians in black shirts and headsets. One was holding a rope that shot straight up to the ceiling, a vertical distance of more than 10 stories.

The plateau wasn’t God’s handiwork, but that of the Shed — the $500 million arts complex at Hudson Yards on Midtown Manhattan’s far west side. It was part of the custom-built, multilevel stage for a new multimillion-dollar “kung fu musical” called “Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise,” which begins previews on June 22.

Cast members were given a crash curriculum (martial arts training, aerial choreography and singing lessons) to transform them into futuristic warriors.

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Cast members were given a crash curriculum (martial arts training, aerial choreography and singing lessons) to transform them into futuristic warriors.Credit Devin Yalkin for The New York Times

The show, the unlikely fruit of an even less likely collaboration — involving Chen Shi-Zheng, the Chinese-American opera impresario; the “Kung Fu Panda” screenwriters Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger; the musician Sia; and the choreographer Akram Khan — pushed the star-studded creative team to its limits, taking three years to make and crisscrossing as many continents.

And cast members, consisting almost entirely of contemporary dancers who were given a crash curriculum (martial arts training, aerial choreography and singing lessons) to transform them into futuristic warriors, faced an even steeper challenge.

“Remember: If you want to come down, just say ‘Down,’” an aerial coordinator with a loose bun of gray hair said to Xavier. It was June 12, a little more than a week before audiences would be watching, and for the first time the dancer-turned-warrior was strapped into a nylon harness that would raise him 80 feet into the air. The technician with the rope fastened him in.

“You better pray!” Abdiel howled from the base of the stage, drawing laughs from the crowd that had gathered there. “X is about to go to the mother planet!”

MAY 10 | 43 DAYS BEFORE PREVIEWS BEGIN

The Ghost of Bruce Lee
A month before Abdiel and Xavier arrived, Alex Poots, the CEO and artistic director of the Shed, was sitting in the same spot, clicking at his laptop. Another custom stage, this one built for Björk, occupied the space where the plateau is now, at the center of this highly flexible 1,200-seat theater, the McCourt.

Before joining the Shed, Mr. Poots, one of the contemporary art world’s most exuberant and prolific matchmakers, served as the artistic director of the Park Avenue Armory and the founder of the Manchester International Festival in England. In those roles, he commissioned an opera that paired the artist Marina Abramovic with Willem Dafoe, and a ballet, adapted from a Jonathan Safran Foer book, that featured a score by the electronic music producer Jamie xx and choreography by Wayne McGregor.

“Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise” is his most ambitious undertaking yet. It was developed as a kind of proof of concept for the new building, engineered to dazzle audiences with name-brand artists, staggering physical scale and blockbuster pyrotechnics not found anywhere else in a city well steeped in audacious spectacle.

But achieving liftoff won’t be easy. The last such high-profile, high-flying attempt was the Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark,” a notoriously unwieldy enterprise that left a cautionary legacy of comic one-liners, broken hearts and sunk capital when it closed in 2014.
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PeiJu Chien-Pott as Lotus.CreditDevin Yalkin for The New York Times

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“I’m hoping the physicality and the energy will carry us through,” said Mr. Chen.Credit Devin Yalkin for The New York Times

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Ms. Chien-Pott is a principal dancer of the Martha Graham Company.Credit Devin Yalkin for The New York Times

Getting to the rehearsal stage for “Dragon Spring,” which The New York Times observed on six occasions over four weeks, took years of meticulous planning, and a high tolerance for risk.

On his laptop in the McCourt, Mr. Poots found the video that started it all, and pressed play. It was a black-and-white clip of a young Bruce Lee in 1964, wearing a trim black suit and tie to audition for the television series “The Green Hornet.” In the audition, Lee demonstrates an array of kung fu moves with astonishing velocity and force, introducing each with the workaday nonchalance of a flight attendant giving safety instructions.

The video had arrived in Mr. Poots’s inbox in 2015, with a note from Mr. Chen expressing his desire to bring Lee’s physical dynamism to the stage.

“It was an entry point into something that was artistic, that had real rigor, but was at a juncture of art, sport and spirituality, which I thought was such a potent proposition,” said Mr. Poots, who had previously worked with Mr. Chen on the acrobatic opera “Monkey: Journey to the West,” a collaboration with the band Gorillaz.

Mr. Poots, who had been dreaming up ideas for what was then to be called the Culture Shed, asked Mr. Chen how he could help develop the show. The director said that his wife had been a big admirer of the “Kung Fu Panda” movies. Mr. Poots opened his Rolodex.

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Warriors trying to resurrect Lotus.Credit Devin Yalkin for The New York Times continued next post

GeneChing

06-19-2019, 06:56 AM

MAY 23 | 30 DAYS BEFORE PREVIEWS BEGIN

Making Artists into Martial Artists
The ensemble members, each carrying a seven-foot bamboo staff to practice the show’s climactic fight scene, stood single file in a rehearsal space on 42nd Street. Cued by the score, a thunderous refrain composed by Bobby Krlic, who records as the Haxan Cloak, they snaked across the floor in a skewed figure eight before coming to rest in a semicircle that spanned the room.

The musical, which takes place in Chinatown in Flushing, Queens, in the near future, tells the story of an exiled sect of kung fu warriors that guards an underground spring infused with the power of eternal life. The fugitive daughter of the sect’s grand master, who eloped with a mysterious outsider, gives birth to twins who are separated at birth, only to reunite 18 years later to save the sect, and the world, from a powerful enemy.

Mr. Chen, 56, with boyish black hair and a gentle manner, looked on during the rehearsal from a chair on the sidelines, his chin buried deep in his palm.

The ensemble pounded the floor in unison with their staffs, creating a resounding pulse. The grand master, played by David Patrick Kelly (“Twin Peaks” on TV, “Once” on Broadway), entered the center of the semicircle with PeiJu Chien-Pott, a principal in the Martha Graham Dance Company who portrays his daughter, and two of the show’s villains. Then the fighting began — a brutal ballet complete with swords and a bullwhip.

After a few run-throughs of the scene, Mr. Chen halted the action and approached Ms. Chien-Pott. Her kicks hadn’t been landing as they should.

“It doesn’t read,” he said, showing the actress how to properly position herself. “You’re hitting his shoulder, but you want to hit his face.”

Mr. Chen was born in Changsha, China, and trained as a youth in baguazhang, an early form of kung fu that intoxicated him. “I’ve always found martial arts to be one of the most beautiful kinds of movements — the precision and the energy and the line of the body,” he said. “I’m always shocked that it’s not used more on the stage.”

He came to New York in 1987 to pursue an M.F.A. in experimental drama at New York University. In 1999, he earned international acclaim for his three-day, 20-hour production of “The Peony Pavilion” at the Lincoln Center Festival, and went on to direct other idiosyncratic work, including “Monkey” (which had mixed reviews but toured the world) and a Chinese adaptation of “High School Musical.”

Though wrapped in pop packaging, the core themes of “Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise” — geographical and spiritual dislocation, hybridized identity and the weight of heritage — are deeply personal.

“I wanted to create a modern myth about immigrants in America and how they survive,” Mr. Chen said. “When I came to this country in the late ’80s, it was cool to be different. But lately I’ve been feeling so much hostility, and that kind of subconsciously went into the plot.”

He spent more than a year on casting, searching for performers who could match the show’s multidisciplinary ambitions. But the musical theater actors he saw didn’t make believable fighters, and the martial artists couldn’t pull off the requisite acting and dancing.

He decided to narrow his focus to the dance world — largely hip-hop, modern, and classical — figuring he would get an actor’s stage presence and a martial artist’s core strength and agility in the bargain.

But mastering the fight choreography, even for a cast with extraordinary physical discipline, took longer than expected. That meant less time to practice other aspects of their performances. And more to worry about.

“We were trying to find people who could do the martial arts and the acting and the singing, but we failed, in a way,” Mr. Chen acknowledged. “I’m hoping the physicality and the energy will carry us through.”

Learning to fly in the harnesses was the last — and riskiest — piece of the puzzle.

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Learning to fly in the harnesses was the last — and riskiest — piece of the puzzle.CreditDevin Yalkin for The New York Times

JUNE 12 | 10 DAYS BEFORE PREVIEWS BEGIN

Taking Flight
On the plateau in the Shed’s McCourt Theater, just over a week before “Dragon Spring” was scheduled to open, a technician gave Xavier final instructions.

“X marks the spot — stand right … here.”

It was the first, and only, week of full rehearsals for the show’s three aerial sequences, which, for logistical reasons, hadn’t been possible outside of the Shed. For Xavier and the rest of the ensemble, learning to fly in the harnesses was the last — and riskiest — piece of the puzzle.

Directly above him was a ring-shaped platform suspended 80 feet in the air, from which he and six other performers were to dive in a dramatic rescue scene. Below him were live fire pits capable of shooting flames, and water spouts that could flood and drain the plateau on demand.

Mr. Poots estimated that the stage had cost around $650,000 to construct, money that, along with the rest of a budget that he said was in the low millions, had been offset by fund-raising, and which he hoped to recoup with ticket sales and rentals to other theaters and presenting organizations. (Unlike “Spider-Man,” the show is being presented by a nonprofit.)

“We thought very carefully about designing the show so that it could have a life after the Shed,” he said, adding that producers from London, Paris, Beijing and Berlin were among those expected to attend its four-week run.

On the plateau, the technician, who wore a controller around his neck the size of a 12-pack, flipped a switch and hoisted Xavier aloft: 15 feet, 30 feet, 50 feet.

“Whaat!” Xavier shouted, weightless and grinning with delight, as the rope pulled him high above the stage, above his castmates, above everything.

Whether the show would ultimately live up to its lofty ambitions remained to be seen. But, for this moment at least, none of that mattered — he could fly.

“Yeah, Xavier!” shouted the coordinator from below, craning her neck and smiling. “You look beautiful!”

Reggie Ugwu is a pop culture reporter covering a range of subjects, including film, television, music and internet culture. Before joining The Times in 2017, he was a reporter for BuzzFeed News and Billboard magazine. @uugwuu

Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71341-Dragon-Spring-Phoenix-Rise) needs its own thread now, independent of Martial Arts in Live Theater (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49689-Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater)

GeneChing

09-05-2019, 09:14 AM

There’s a lot you can learn about the Talmud from kung fu movies, according to a new play (https://www.jta.org/2019/09/04/culture/theres-a-lot-you-can-learn-about-the-talmud-from-kung-fu-movies-according-to-a-new-play)
BY JOSEFIN DOLSTEN SEPTEMBER 4, 2019 4:09 PM

https://www.jta.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/9-4-19-talmud1.jpg
Jesse Freedman's "The Talmud" draws inspiration from the Jewish canon and Chinese martial art films. (Courtesy of Freedman)

NEW YORK (JTA) — In trying to understand the often esoteric arguments of the Talmud, people often turn to teachers, dictionaries and a range of other study aids. Jesse Freedman has found another helpful, albeit unexpected source: kung fu movies.

Five or six years ago, the Jewish director and playwright was watching the martial arts film “Canton Viper” when he realized that it reminded him of something in the Talmud, which he spent some time studying in college.

“Then I learned more Talmud and watched more kung fu movies and then I thought, ‘The Talmud reminds me of kung fu movies and kung fu movies remind me of the Talmud,’” he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on Tuesday.

Among the many similarities Freedman found between the two are the relationships between students and teachers, who often debate and feud over the small intricacies of their respective traditions.

The structure of the works are similar, too: In kung fu movies, narrative scenes are interspersed with choreographed fight scenes that propel and comment on the plot. In the weighty compendium of Jewish law and lore, legal discussions are interspersed with anecdotes and parables that may illustrate a principle.

“The relationship between narrative and choreographic material in kung fu movies provides an interesting opportunity to interpret the Talmud for the stage,” Freedman said.

So Freedman, 37, decided to do what he does best: write a play about it. The result is “The Talmud,” which will run Sept. 12-28 at the Target Margin Theater in Brooklyn. The 75-minute play was created by Meta-Phys Ed., a performance company that Freedman founded with Rabbi Bronwen Mullin and for which he is the artistic director.

“That is basically just how I make work,” said Freedman, a Brooklynite who grew up in Stamford, Connecticut. “There are a couple things I’m interested in and I kind of just smash them together.”

https://www.jta.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/9-4-19-talmud2.jpg
Freedman’s play finds similarities between kung fu and Talmud study in the relationships between students and teachers. (Courtesy of Freedman)

The play’s plot comes from the Talmud tractate Gittin, which primarily deals with laws related to divorce. Freedman focuses on a digression in the text concerning land confiscated by Romans from Jews during the First Jewish-Roman War, which ultimately led to the destruction of the Second Temple.

In a reimagined Talmudic academy, rabbis talk about the law — in dialogue taken from the English translation of the text — with choreographed sequences inspired by kung fu. It features a four-person cast and a musician playing the pipa, a traditional Chinese lute. There are also video projections and dance, ranging from postmodern to hip hop.

Though there are no actual fighting sequences in the play, Freedman drew inspiration from the way duels and fighting sequences are structured. As he and the cast worked on the play, they watched a number of Chinese kung fu movies from the 1970s to the present.

In the Talmud, “people challenge each other in order to sharpen their skills or in order to defend their techniques or their traditions or the understanding of the tradition, or in order to keep the tradition alive and to expand it and move it forward.” Freedman said.

To better understand those dynamics, he added, “I can watch kung fu movies because that is often what kung fu movies are about.”

It’s not the first time Freedman has combined unlikely topics in a play. His 2018 performance work “Wake … Sing …” drew inspiration from a Depression-era drama by the Jewish-American writer Clifford Odets, biblical books about the resurrection of the dead and zombie movies.

“Most of my projects tend to have some kind of a Jewish thread,” he said.

The director said he has enjoyed the education about the richness of two unique cultures.

“It’s been great to learn about thousands of years of Jewish and Chinese tradition together,” he said.

Intriguing. I really don't know enough about Talmud study to get the connection, but cool, right?

GeneChing

12-13-2019, 09:00 AM

Scientific process inspires UChicago art/science lab, whose latest play entangles quantum concepts and kung fu (https://news.uchicago.edu/story/scientific-process-inspires-uchicago-artscience-lab-whose-latest-play-entangles-quantum)

https://cdn.news.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/images/2019-12/kungfu2.jpg?itok=SVIvFUyA
STAGE Lab members (from left) Collin Van Son, Sunanda Prabhu-Gaunkar, Ellen Wiese, Madeleine Kerr and Edison Hong take a class with kung fu Master Oscar Lam (right) as part of a workshop in Hong Kong.

Photo by Willy Tang

By Louise Lerner
Dec 12, 2019

Scholars and students use technology to create new stories for the theater

Scientists stage experiments all the time—but only a few stage plays. But at the University of Chicago, an innovative art/science lab embedded in its Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering has found inspiration in a unique place: the scientific process.

“We use research, brainstorming and improvisation to generate and investigate new ideas, with continuous analysis and feedback,” said Prof. Nancy Kawalek, the director, actor and writer who heads STAGE (Scientists, Technologists and Artists Generating Exploration).

But these are not science lectures disguised as plays, she said: “By creating emotionally engaging stories, we get the public interested in and excited about science.”

STAGE is based at the PME, the first school in the nation dedicated to defining molecular engineering—an emerging field that builds on advances in basic science to design technology from the molecular level up. In turn, Kawalek works with scholars, students, scientists and artists from across the University, as well as externally, to also use technology as an integral part of staging stories about science.

The STAGE lab group is comprised of scientists and artists who collaboratively develop new theater work through a unique process of improvisation and iteration. Each theater project centers on a scientific concept, which is integrated over months of rehearsals into a story that has an emotional parallel to the scientific topic. For example, the lab’s latest project melds quantum entanglement and kung fu.

https://cdn.news.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/images/2019-12/provenance_bts2.jpg?itok=reGjN8If
A STAGE Lab brainstorming session on the use of technology to tell a story.
Photo courtesy STAGE Lab

The project was inspired when Kawalek became aware of a museum exhibit that used motion capture and other technology to map a young kung fu master’s moves onto a lifelike avatar of his long-deceased great-grandfather, the revered Master Lam Sai Wing.

“In this way, the singular style of kung fu originated by Lam Sai Wing, and in some sense the master himself, were brought back to life on film,” Kawalek said. “Though still in the very early stages, Entanglement is evolving into a play about science, technology, memory and heritage. Quantum entanglement takes us into the remarkable future of technology, while the intangible cultural heritage of kung fu offers inextricable links to the past.”

Kawalek was fascinated by the museum exhibit, especially after learning that the words “kung fu” carry, among other things, the connotation of energy and time. Additional links emerged through discussions with Tian Zhong, a PME assistant professor and STAGE collaborator, who has been doing research on a quantum phenomenon called time-energy entanglement.

Zhong said the exhibit is a powerful demonstration of the type of connections STAGE wants to draw. “The avatar represents a collapsing of time, spanning two generations through movement. This is exactly the essence of time-energy entanglement, so we thought this was a perfect way to inform an audience about the concepts of quantum physics,” he said.

This past summer, the STAGE group worked with The Hong Kong Jockey Club University of Chicago Academic Complex | The University of Chicago Francis and Rose Yuen Campus in Hong Kong, traveling to Hong Kong to research kung fu and quantum science. Students and faculty met with Master Oscar Lam, Lam Sai Wing’s great-grandson; Hing Chao, a leading advocate for the preservation of Chinese martial arts; and the museum exhibit’s artist, Prof. Jeffrey Shaw, a distinguished media artist at the City University of Hong Kong.

Throughout the Hong Kong workshop, research, kung fu lessons, and brainstorming and motion capture sessions provided compelling material for developing Entanglement, Kawalek said. For example, Zhong and the STAGE group had a fruitful discussion with Chao about the role of energy in martial arts. When Zhong raised questions about scientific concepts like conservation, Chao offered an impromptu demonstration of forces specific to different martial arts, such as the linear punches of boxing, versus the arcing shapes of many methods of attack in other types of Chinese martial arts.

https://cdn.news.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/images/2019-12/provenance_production_still_1.jpg?itok=h9dngGa8
A scene from the workshop production of a previous STAGE play, "The Art of Questionable Provenance."
Photo by HMS Media

As the play develops, Zhong said, he hopes it will increase public awareness and knowledge about quantum science, especially among younger generations. “Some of the concepts in quantum physics are very counterintuitive, and it’s a struggle to relate them to our everyday experiences,” he said. “But I believe earlier and greater exposure to ‘bizarre’ concepts such as these will generate many more innovative ideas down the road.”

STAGE continues to investigate the ideas discovered during their Hong Kong research trip, and Kawalek said the lab hopes to present a workshop production in 2020.

As with all STAGE lab projects, Kawalek said, the goal of Entanglement is to excite the public about science and technology through theater that is relevant to our lives, which are influenced by technological and scientific advances at every turn.

“These connections between science and art—at some level, they’re about the same thing,” Zhong said. “Both start with asking intriguing questions. Then you use existing knowledge to inquire and explore, and the outcome is creation—new knowledge or new art. It’s just the toolsets that are different.”

THREADS
Lam Sai Wing (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?1524-Lam-Sai-Wing-Books)
Hong Kong Martial Arts Living Archive (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?69951-Hong-Kong-Martial-Arts-Living-Archive)
Martial Arts in Live Theater (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49689-Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater)

GeneChing

01-27-2021, 09:49 AM

RAWdance’s multisensory ‘The Healer’ is remade for the pandemic era (https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/dance/rawdances-multi-sensory-the-healer-is-remade-for-the-pandemic-era)
Rachel Howard January 26, 2021Updated: January 26, 2021, 7:38 pm

https://s3.amazonaws.com/sfc-datebook-wordpress/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/01/MERf32c4d61743ba8e9e459a0194419d_healer0127-1024x950.jpg
RAWdance co-director Katerina Wong (center).
Photo: Elena Zhukova
When RAWdance Co-Artistic Director Katerina Wong’s dance “The Healer” was first set to premiere almost one year ago, it was to be an immersive sensory experience. Choreographed to honor Wong’s aunt, a registered nurse who also practiced traditional Chinese medicine, “The Healer” was designed to have the audience walk into ODC Theater alongside the dancers, welcoming all with incense blown by paper fans, and inviting viewers to take deep qigong breaths in their shared space.

But a week before opening night, COVID-19 shut down San Francisco. Six months later, when RAWdance regrouped to see what the company might present online in 2021, “The Healer” — which had been one of three world premieres scheduled on that scuttled 2020 program — stood out as the dance to resurrect in this new moment.

Now “The Healer” is set to premiere via live stream on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 29-30, with very different logistics but with the same — though newly intensified — intent.

Patrons who ordered the Sensory Offerings package for “The Healer” will not just sit down in front of their screens, but will first open up teabags and ginger candies and paper fans sent ahead of time in the mail. Women chosen as mentors by Wong will start the online evening by showing their own rituals like removing their shoes and lighting candles. The performance will begin with breathing exercises, even if the participants cannot share the same air, and the 30-minute prerecorded dance will be followed by a live Q&A session with a healing practitioner, with different healing modalities featured at each showing.

“It’s about finding a way to live in this moment and stay in these difficult emotions,” Wong said, speaking from her home in the Mission just after the insurrectionist mob attacked the nation’s Capitol, as she prepared for a day of rehearsing her dancers over Zoom. “It’s about letting these emotions flow through each of us so we can learn their lessons.”

https://s3.amazonaws.com/sfc-datebook-wordpress/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/01/MERf633a0c6044e0a3f2bf874b46133e_healer0127-1024x731.jpg
Katerina Wong (left) and Stacey Yuen in “The Healer.”
Photo: Hillary Goidell
She hastens to explain that “The Healer” has been developed “from a beginner mind-set.” Wong, whose father emigrated from south China to Montreal and then Brooklyn, was raised Jewish by her mother and did not learn about traditional Chinese medicine much as a child. Her beloved aunt Szuson Wong was so busy traveling the world to lecture about Chinese healing practices that Katerina rarely got to see her until her aunt’s last years, when her aunt was diagnosed with a rapidly spreading cancer. Szuson Wong elected to forgo many Western treatments and chose a holistic treatment center in Reno, where her niece visited frequently and saw how her “stern and specific” aunt navigated the tensions between approaches to health, making sure her herbal remedies were compatible with prescriptions.

It was only after her aunt died two years ago that Wong began seriously researching the principles of traditional Chinese medicine, discovering, she says, “these concepts exist in all of us whether we’re aware of it or not.”

The work she’s created for four female dancers physically explores these concepts. For instance, Wong and her dancers worked with Chinese medicine’s system of pressure points and meridians to shift their partnering from habitual Western modes of contact at the waist and the hands, instead mindfully registering sensations at the wrists and ankles, or behind the knees or neck.

The project presented a welcome field of new exploration for the prolific Bay Area composer Daniel Berkman, who has practiced tai chi since high school. His commissioned score draws on the six healing breath sounds of qigong to ask, he said, “How can we make breath into a percussive score?”

An incorrigible experimenter with world instruments who often plays on a 21-stringed West African cousin of the lute called the kora, Berkman also delighted in discovering a Chinese version of a Japanese mouth organ called the sho to use in “The Healer.”

“It makes a bigger and grander sound that’s intense,” he said.

He also reveled in the challenge of incorporating audio from a 2012 lecture Szuson Wong gave at a conference titled “Wisdom From the Origins.” “The sound quality of the recording was iffy,” he said, “but the way she got everyone in the room so engaged was inspiring.” So rather than disguise the sound quality, he worked with it raw as part of the breath texture of the piece.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/sfc-datebook-wordpress/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/01/MER9204a267745c0a9f12f3100a128ff_healer0127-1024x683.jpg
Stacey Yuen (left), Juliann Witt, Katerina Wong and Michaela Cruze at a pre-COVID work-in-progress showing for “The Healer.”
Photo: Hillary Goidell
The audience may have to experience all this in their individual homes, but after nine months apart and a careful quarantine, the four dancers came together to rehearse and film at ODC Theater. RAWdance member Stacey Yuen, who began creating the very earliest version of “The Healer” with Wong in such different circumstances almost two years ago, was relishing the physical contact.

Wong “creates such a space of openness and dialogue and community,” Yuen said. “Delving back in has been a healing process after all this time and turmoil.”

“The Healer”: RAWdance. Available to stream 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 29; 5 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30. $15-$100. www.odc.dance/TheHealer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAMtkWTocgk&feature=emb_logo

Threads
Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49689-Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater)
covid (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?71666-Coronavirus-(COVID-19)-Wuhan-Pneumonia)

GeneChing

08-24-2022, 09:17 AM

Feature: When Chinese martial arts, Western contemporary dance converge (https://english.news.cn/20220824/ad47bdb3b95c479283ced382d1a179ba/c.html)
Source: XinhuaEditor: huaxia2022-08-24 20:00:15

SYDNEY, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- With lights fading out at the Neilson Studio of Sydney Dance Company, 18-year-old Australian contemporary dancer Xanthe, together with dozens of her peers, quietly walked on the center stage, ready to showcase the fruits of their Chinese martial arts training.

After spending five weeks absorbing Hung Kuen and White Crane elements from their Hong Kong teachers, the young performers, wearing navy blue tank tops and leggings, wowed the audience with fresh choreography melding Chinese martial arts and Western contemporary dance on Tuesday night.

For most of them, participating in the cultural exchange event associated with Hong Kong Dance Company's online dance production "Convergence -- a journey of Chinese dance and martial arts" was their first step to learning about China and its unique culture from afar.

"I was like, honestly, shocked. That is so different from what we do," Xanthe told Xinhua after the performance, recalling the very moment when she embarked on her learning of martial arts.

"We had five Zoom lessons with Hong Kong Dance Company, while the first two were definitely very challenging," she said. Having been practicing contemporary dance for about 12 years, Xanthe described the Chinese martial arts as "a new language to our bodies".

She took the precision of punching as an example. "Your energy is not expended until that last second when you're actually hitting the target. That's very challenging," Xanthe said, adding that it took her two to three weeks to digest and get comfortable with the body movements.

Regarding the learning of Chinese martial arts as "eye-opening", Mia, another performer with 10-year dancing experience, told Xinhua that it has given her a different idea and exceeded her expectation of dance, which is "really funny and interesting".

The mentality behind the White Crane practice impressed her the most, as the dancers have to hold a typical gesture to collect inner energy, she said.

Seeing the Hong Kong-Sydney dance collaboration from idea to fruition, Linda Gamblin, head of training at Sydney Dance Company, said that she is keen to help Australian dancers find an internal position of understanding their movements through this cultural exchange project.

"I find with some of our training in the West, we may be striving for perfection, and missing out on the understanding about the self," said Gamblin, also a ballet dancer who once performed in many Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, in the 1980s.

According to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Sydney, the event is part of the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, aiming at bonding various cultures and dance forms and boosting international cultural exchange

Needs pix, amirite?

YinOrYan

08-25-2022, 10:19 AM

Needs pix, amirite?

That's okay. Probably effeminate looking when some dancers take just five weeks absorbing it. Now if it was martial artists taking 5 weeks to mashup some dance, then I'd really want to see it...

GeneChing

09-21-2022, 09:21 PM

https://live.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/slides/TG-940x420.jpg
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan
13 Tongues (https://live.stanford.edu/calendar/october-2022/cloud-gate-dance-theatre-taiwan)
One of Asia’s foremost contemporary dance companies, Cloud Gate was founded in 1973 by choreographer Lin Hwai-min. The company, named after the oldest known dance in China, combines martial arts, Qi Gong, modern dance, and classical ballet. Lin Hwai-min retired in 2019, handing the reins to choreographer Cheng Tsung-lung for his inaugural season as artistic director in 2020.

In 13 Tongues, Cheng Tsung-lung transforms his childhood memories of the streets of Bangka into a fantastical, dreamlike world, fusing ancient superstitions, religious rites, and modern Taipei culture. Beginning and ending with the sound of a single handbell, the music accompanying 13 Tongues ranges from Taiwanese folk songs to Taoist chants to electronica. On a stage awash with projections of colors, shapes, and images, dancers gather, interact, separate, and then come together again in a vibrant representation of the clamor of street life.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This tour is made possible in part by grants from the Ministry of Culture, Republic of China (Tai-wan).

VIDEO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2LUR5jE8vs

WHEN:
Thu, October 6, 2022 at 7:30pm PT
Buy Tickets Student Tickets
VENUE:
Memorial Auditorium
COST:
Tickets start at $32
I love the Memorial Auditorium but I'm booked that night already.

GeneChing

01-31-2023, 09:52 AM

Photos: Inside Rehearsals for THE MONKEY KING: A KUNG FU MUSICAL at Queens Theatre (https://www.broadwayworld.com/off-off-broadway/article/Photos-Inside-Rehearsals-for-THE-MONKEY-KING-A-KUNG-FU-MUSICAL-at-Queens-Theatre-20230127)
An original production created by theatre artists from Queens, which addresses lack of roles for Asian-American female leads and features 100% Asian cast.

by Chloe Rabinowitz Jan. 27, 2023
Queens Theatre will present "The Monkey King: A Kung Fu Musical" February 11-12, 2023 in the Claire Shulman Theater.

Get a first look inside rehearsals below!

The Monkey King: A Kung-Fu Musical will star Sarah Lam Chiu as Guan Yin, Kimbirdlee Fadner as The Monkey King, Ellis Gage as Jade Emperor, Brian Jose as Demon of Havoc, Charles Pang as Immortal Teacher, Gage Thomas as Dragon King, Bella Villanueva as Jogo and Annie Yamamoto as Ganjuwai.

Also appearing in photos are: Steven Eng (Director), Jonathan Fadner (Writer/Composer/Music Director), Max Erhlich (Choreographer), Kelly Ruth Cole (Stage Manager).

Don’t miss the adventure as the first-ever female Monkey King battles against Heaven and Earth's most treacherous foes to save her tribe and achieve immortality. With a cast of memorable characters, a mix of classical and rock music, and kung-fu style choreography – this is an action adventure come to life, a heartfelt and inspiring story perfect for the entire family!

The Monkey King: A Kung Fu Musical is an original production created by theatre artists from Queens, which addresses lack of roles for Asian-American female leads and features 100% Asian cast.

Performances
Saturday, February 11, 2023 at 3:00 PM
Sunday, February 12, 2023 at 3:00 PM

Tickets:

$18 (plus fees*) or 4 for $60 (plus fees*) with code 4FOR60

Photos by Irina Island Images of rehearsals at Main Street Theatre & Dance Alliance.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/ezoimgfmt/cloudimages.broadwayworld.com/upload13/2221437/tn-500_MonkeyKingpose3.jpg?ezimgfmt=rs:600x600/rscb35/ng:webp/ngcb35
Kimbirdlee Fadner

Photos: Inside Rehearsals for THE MONKEY KING: A KUNG FU MUSICAL at Queens Theatre (https://www.broadwayworld.com/ezoimgfmt/cloudimages.broadwayworld.com/upload13/2221437/tn-500_MKFullCastandCreativeTeam1.jpg?ezimgfmt=rs:600 x407/rscb35/ng:webp/ngcb35)
The company of The Monkey King: A Kung Fu Musical: Kelly Ruth Cole, Brian Jose, Steven Eng, Kimbirdlee Fadner, Jonathan Fadner, Bella Villanueva, Max Ehrlich, Sarah Lam Chiu, Ellis Gage, Annie Yamamoto, Gage Thomas, Charles Pang

Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49689-Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater)
Monkey-King (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?50181-Monkey-King)

More pix behind the link...

GeneChing

06-26-2023, 09:12 AM

Chinese kung fu dance drama wows international audience (https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202306/23/WS6495629fa310bf8a75d6b4aa.html)
By Deng Zhangyu | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2023-06-23 17:46

https://img2.chinadaily.com.cn/images/202306/23/6495629fa310bf8a1d22d2a0.jpeg
Wing Chun is produced by the Shenzhen Opera & Dance Theatre. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A dance drama featuring traditional Chinese kung fu that was staged in Beijing on the night of June 21 was warmly applauded by the diplomats from 29 countries who were in the audience.

The show was part of a series of cultural activities organized by Shenzhen to demonstrates the development of the city in southern China.

The dance drama Wing Chun, produced by the Shenzhen Opera & Dance Theatre, features five types of Chinese martial arts, including the well-known wing chun and tai chi and baguazhang, or eight fixed palms. It tells the story of the Chinese kung fu master Ye Wen.

https://img2.chinadaily.com.cn/images/202306/23/6495629fa310bf8a1d22d2a2.jpegModels walk the runway at a fashion show of Shenzhen designs prior to the promotion event. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
The drama has toured China since its launch last year and has won great popularity and acclaim from audiences across the country. It has been especially popular with young audiences.

The diplomats showed they are still young at heart after they watched the performance in Beijing at Poly Theater on June 21.

"It was probably the perfect blend between traditional Chinese culture and a very inspiring, moving, personal story plus the technology which we can see displayed on stage," says Duarte Pinto da Rocha, deputy chief of mission at the Portuguese Embassy in China.

Luxembourg's ambassador to China Marc Hübsch and his wife Carole Hübsch-Tompers were also touched by the drama. The couple expected that one day it will be performed outside China to allow more audiences across the world to enjoy it.

"It is an incredible performance. The combination of contemporary dance moves and traditional cultural values, kung fu moves and so on. This is just something that I never saw before," says Marc Hübsch.

https://img2.chinadaily.com.cn/images/202306/23/6495629fa310bf8a1d22d2a5.jpeg
Guests enjoy the fashion show. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
The drama is part of a series of cultural activities jointly held by the Publicity Department of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China.

An event showcasing Shenzhen success stories and an activity inviting people to experience the traditional Dragon Boat Festival customs of the city were also held in Beijing.

Martial Arts in Live Theater (http://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49689-Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater)
Wing Chun by the Shenzhen Opera & Dance Theatre (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?72544-Wing-Chun-by-the-Shenzhen-Opera-amp-Dance-Theatre)

GeneChing

09-26-2023, 08:39 AM

Monkey: A Kung Fu Puppet Parable (https://www.whitesnakeprojects.org/projects/monkey-a-kung-fu-puppet-parable/)
An Ancient Wizard of Oz Tale for Our Times

MONKEY: A Kung Fu Puppet Parable, is a family friendly transmedia opera combining Bunraku puppetry, computer generated images, and live opera. MONKEY is based on the Chinese quest saga, “Journey to the West,” rewritten to reflect contemporary issues from the multicultural mosaic of American life. Besides the two fundamental operatic elements of text and music, the three main characters - Monkey, Pig (Zhu), and Sandwoman (Sha) - are life sized Bunraku puppets. MONKEY delves into the world of computer generated technology through the use of CGI environs and avatars. Live singers on stage will be the voices of the puppets and avatars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA3wkF9TAPc

https://www.whitesnakeprojects.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/MONKEYPOSTER-small.jpg

Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49689-Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater)
Monkey-King (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?50181-Monkey-King)

GeneChing

10-03-2023, 11:26 AM

Shenzhen Dance Drama "Wing Chun" Makes Its Overseas Debut in Singapore, Telling Chinese Stories to the World with Shenzhen Spirit APAC - English (https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/shenzhen-dance-drama-wing-chun-makes-its-overseas-debut-in-singapore-telling-chinese-stories-to-the-world-with-shenzhen-spirit-301941742.html)
NEWS PROVIDED BY Shenzhen Municipal People's Government
28 Sep, 2023, 20:39 CST
SHARE THIS ARTICLE

SHENZHEN, China, Sept. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On the evening of September 27th, the Chinese Embassy in Singapore held the National Day Reception at the Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay in Singapore to celebrate the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Diplomats and envoys from over 40 countries, including the United States, Canada, Venezuela, and the Netherlands, attended the reception and watched the overseas premiere of the Shenzhen-produced dance drama "Wing Chun".

This is the first stop of Wing Chun's overseas tour. When walking into the theater that night, the plaque of "Wing Chun Store" with a strong Cantonese style soon came into view. Xiang Yun Sha silk, the fabric to make the exquisite performance costumes, and the potato juice used for making Xiang Yun Sha silk have attracted many audiences to take photos.

Three months ago, on the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival, 29 envoys to China and some representatives of international organizations watched the performance of Wing Chun in Beijing. After that, they invited the crew of Wing Chun to go overseas to enable people from more countries to have a better understanding of Shenzhen and experience the charm of traditional Chinese culture, according to Shenzhen Municipal People's Government.

Today, three months after the Beijing performance, Wing Chun officially headed abroad, choosing Singapore as its first stop.

Wing Chun, due to its prominent Chinese martial arts style, has become one of the Chinese symbols recognized by many foreign friends. After enjoying the performance on September 27th, Ms. Chan Heng Chee, Ambassador-at-Large with Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, highly praised Wing Chun: "It was wonderful! It's balletic, it's acrobatic, and it's Kung Fu as well. It's a great fusion of styles."

As a phenomenal performance that has drawn a large audience and received highly favorable reviews in China, Wing Chun's heading abroad this time also took Singapore by storm. "We know how popular this dance drama is in China. It perfectly combines China's dual intangible cultural heritages of Wing Chun and Xiang Yun Sha silk, while also blending martial arts and dance seamlessly," said Ms. Qin Wen, Cultural Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Singapore.

The dance drama Wing Chun, based on traditional Chinese culture, embodies the wisdom of the Chinese nation through the use of "bridging" in boxing techniques. Audiences from Singapore can not only appreciate the diversity of Chinese dance art in the new era, but also feel the charm of Chinese martial arts, which shows China's national spirit of promoting communication and exchange.

After the two-hour performance, many audiences spontaneously stood up, applauded, and took photos. Several foreign envoys expressed that Wing Chun contains typical Chinese elements and is an excellent medium for understanding Chinese culture. They also showed their expectations for Wing Chun to perform in more countries.

Now, Wing Chun is setting sail and going abroad. This Shenzhen artistic masterpiece, rich in spiritual connotation, aesthetic charm, and humanistic value, is telling Chinese stories in the new era to the world.

SOURCE Shenzhen Municipal People's Government

https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?49689-Martial-Arts-in-Live-Theater
Shenzhen-produced dance drama "Wing Chun" (https://www.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?72612-Shenzhen-produced-dance-drama-quot-Wing-Chun-quot)