Year Of The Tiger

Happy Chinese New Year! And to all my fellow Tigers, this one is going to be fantastic.



To celebrate, Olanna and I went to the Ahmanson Theater to see the Beijing Dance Academy perform. The first act was "Lotus Flowers in June" full of bright colored costumes with extra fabric to give the illusion of petals.

The picture below is "Waist Dancing of the Chu Women." The dancers bent backwards so low that the feathers of their hats practically touched the audience. Olanna and I both want those hats sooooo baaaaaad.



Here is the "Singing While Treading" dance. The graceful girls sang and danced to the rhythm of foot treading, a popular form of dance in ancient China. The dance form was lost in areas dominated by Han nationality but it still can be found in some dances in remote areas where ethnic minorities live today.



This highlight is "Emperor Qin Shihuang Calls on Troops." The original idea of this dance comes from the terra-cotta warriors of Qin Dynasty (221-207 B.C) unearthed in Xi’an, China, which are regarded as one of the ten wonders in the world. It immerses classical Chinese dance techniques with powerful rhythm in Jiangzhou drums. The simple image of Qin warriors represents the heroic bravery of Chinese warriors.

It won first prize of Beijing Dance Competition; gold medalist of choreography and the silver medal for performance at the First CCTV Dance Competition.



And lastly, two very joyful audience members right before heading to Chinatown for a big New Year's feast!