Twin Cities Premiere of "Carnival China Style"- 2010 Chinese New Year's Gala Runs at Orpheum Theater, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010, at 7:00 PM


Featuring China’s 60 Top Performing Artists


Come to Celebrate the Chinese New Year


MINNEAPOLIS—“Carnival China Style”- 2010 Chinese New Year's Gala, a spectacular Chinese stage performance will take the Twin Cities public stage for the very first time at Hennepin Theatre Trust’s Orpheum Theatre, January 10th, 2010. This limited ten venue tour, sponsored by the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese and performed by the China Broadcasting Performing Arts Ensemble, will perform in the major Canadian cities of Toronto and Ottawa before moving on to the United States to visit Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, San Francisco, Sacramento, Reno and Seattle.


“Carnival China Style” is a special spring festival gala evening jointly envisioned and created by the Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese and China Broadcasting Performing Arts Ensemble. In 2008, it was performed in six Canadian cities and in 2009 made a successful tour of Ottawa and Los Angeles. This stunning extravaganza hopes to publicize and promote Chinese culture across the globe and infuse some of its essence and vitality into mainstream Western society through a display of unique traditional Chinese performances. “Carnival China Style” displays the core values of Chinese culture, and through this, hopes to strengthen the cohesion of overseas Chinese communities.


The performance highlights the aspects of ethnicity, popularity and folkloristic nature of Chinese culture through meticulous selection and creation of performances that best reflect its ancient and modern traditions, capture its vitality, strength of character and showcase the magnificent Chinese civilization.


The 2010 “Carnival China Style” gala refines the performances of previous years to emphasize global harmony, contemporary culture, pure art and visual elegance. A gathering of works by a diverse selection Chinese artists, utilizing contemporary stage techniques and blending together various art forms, the show is a collection of traditional Chinese performance styles which brings to life the essence and character of China in a celebration that is both powerful and infectious.


The “Carnival China Style” gala exhibits the latest achievements of Chinese art through traditional Chinese vocal music, dance, Chinese operas, traditional musical performance, acrobatics, calligraphy, groups from mountains and grasslands, and other fine performances. The show also displays the rich diversity and gentle splendor of Chinese life through performances by the Han, Uighur, Mongolian, Tibetan, Miao (Hmong) and Yi cultures.


“Carnival China Style” brings together a diverse and multifaceted collection of art and performance together in one show: The “Xianghe” or matching song, an ancient dance that harmonizes ancient music, verse and dance, is poetry of elegance and perfection, while “The Miao (Hmong) Girl” is a performance of pure, natural exuberance and unrestrained simplicity that exudes Southwestern Chinese spirit. At the other end of the spectrum “Contemporary Contortion”, performed by Jiayin Liu and Chunpu Bai captures the quintessence of traditional acrobatics yet innovates new styles of movement to create forms of extreme complexity and beauty. Linlin Jin gives an astounding performance of hula hoop dexterity that has won her a place in the Guinness Book of Records and “Snow Lotus”, a band from Tibet, sings a heavenly vocal harmony that brims with traditional energy and modern style. The joyous and simple exuberance of the song performed by Huaifu and Huaixiu Li gives a taste of the natural beauty from where they came and is loved by audiences everywhere, while the songs “The Far Away Place” and “The Girl from Daban City” skillfully blend dynamics and rhythms of modern music and dance in a way that is energetic and contagious. Jindong Wei, Renhu Sa, Yan Sheng and Lu Yue give a performance of folk music that has a fresh and purity of style. The Huangmei Opera piece by Qiong Wu’s clear and crisp singing sounds as if pearls dropping into a jade plate, and lingers way after the performance ends. “The Official Conservatory of Music and Art" blends the cultures of painting, calligraphy, music and dance into a holistic fusion of melodious piano and the splashing of ink that underlines the ancientness of Chinese culture, while “Axi Dances in the Moonlight” is a folk tune that demonstrates the expressiveness and unique enchantment of traditional folk music.


The Pièce de résistance, the Beijing opera fiddle and dance performance of “Somber Night’” by the critically acclaimed performer Kemei Jiang is one of the classical works still performed to this day. With her natural elegance and poised confidence, Kemei Jiang’s style of rhythmical performance and masterful skill take this traditional tune to new heights in a sublime expression of Chinese elegance that touches and lingers in the soul.


Finally, the performance also invites overseas percussionists and bassists to participate in the show and inject elements of contemporary music and technical rearrangement that emphasize the openness and compatibility of Chinese music.


TICKET INFORMATION
“Carnival China Style”-2010 Chinese New Year’s Gala is set for Sunday, Jan. 10th, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. at Hennepin Theatre Trust’s Orpheum Theatre(910 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, 55403). Tickets go on sale Saturday, Nov. 28th, 2009 and range in price from $15 to $35 depending on seating preference. All prices include applicable facility fees. Additional service charges may apply. Tickets may be purchased in person at the State Theatre Box Office (805 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, 55402), online at HennepinTheatreTrust.org, or through Ticketmaster by calling 1-800-982-2787 or visiting a Ticketmaster Ticket Center. Groups of 10 or more are eligible for discounts and should call 612-373-5665. Tickets are also available at Huaxin Bookstore (651-644-4294) and from the local Chinese community organizations.