Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company
presents

YEAR OF THE GOLDEN OX

February 11, 12, & 13, 2021
https://nainichen/yearofox

What a delightful performance! Beautiful costumes, grace, beauty, delicacy, acrobats, two lions, and a dragon!

Chinese New Year is the most joyous holiday of the Chinese year. Imagine a 12-course dinner and exchanging red envelopes containing money so that you will have good fortune. These are solid, material things. The dances are magic dreams to amaze and lighten worldly cares.

First, the Double Lion Dance, featuring the most adorable lions ever. (Two dancers in each lion costume, of course). All red and gold, colors carrying good luck. Then Dream of the Peacock, where Chinese Toe Tip Balancing artist LINA LIU floats into place to balance and swirl large and seemingly weightless umbrellas on her toes and the bottoms of her feet. Unbelievably beautiful.

Six ladies in tasseled headdresses interweave for the Bai Ethnic Coinstick Dance. It is reminiscent of Morris Dancing, if Morris Dancers took ballet lessons and dressed in silk.

The luscious excerpt from Kunju Opera, “The Exodus of Wang Zhaojun”, is a change of pace. Coming from Ming-era style, the movements are small steps, then stop and pose. Lady Wang Zhaojun’s costume is out of this world.

This special online virtual presentation also includes the works of The Renaissance Chinese Opera Society, Master Balancing Acrobat Yang XiaoDi, Kuaiban Artist XingYe Ma, Kunqu actor Yaozhong Zhang, Yonghong Jia, Yi Chuan Yan, and others. The New York Chinese Music Ensemble adds amazing instrumental music featuring Erhu, Ruan, Pipa, and the ancient Sheng, a reed instrument.

If you get a chance to see any of these performers, don’t miss it! You will not believe your eyes. The peacefulness, precision, and joy is medicine for the soul as well as a delight for the eyes.

HAPPY YEAR OF THE GOLDEN OX!

-Karen D’Onofrio-