UMS Concert Program, November 6, 1976: The Chinese Acrobats Of Taiwan --

Concert: Second
Complete Series: 4018
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

The University Musical Society
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The Iliivrnii
Presents
The Chinese Acrobats of Taiwan
DR. CHINGHSIEN HO, Director YUKUANG HSU, Associate Director
Musicians
Juhui CHANGpercussion instruments Fuchi SHENsheng (17tube pipe)
Tengko CH'EN tizu (Chinese piccolo) Chinhsiung O]yantch'in (dulcimer)
Lich'ing HSXJtayuan (Chinese cello) Chching WAKGerkku (Chinese fiddle)
Shuo KUOp'ip'a (lute) Chichung CUANGchunghu (Chinese viola)
Saturday Evening, November 6, 1976, at 8:30 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
Chinese Carnival
Yuch'ing CHANG, Fengt'ing CH'EN, Chinchang CHANG, Chiu CHANG, Yulung CHANG, Nengchen SU, Chinkuei CHU, Changmin TSENG, Yuashien WANG, Mingtang VVU, Minghsiung HSIAO, Hsiehfa HSU, Huochu CHANG, Chunmei CHANG, Paochuan TANG, Mingyu CHU, Ijen K'O, Yungsen CHENG, Kuoch'ing WANG, Mingfa LIN, K'ojcn CHANG, Junghui SUN, Wencheng HUANG, Manli WU, Hsiuhua CHU, Yuehchih HSIA, Peichieh WU, Yulin VVU, Shuhui LIN, Shuchuan HSU.
Recreates some of the traditionrich festive celebrations in China that arc vignettes of the past. An authentic dragon dance which is still seen today, a classic dance by seven lovely maidens dressed in ancient costumes, and an adaptation of operatic tumbling above a huge silk banner waved by a strong man. The fast action and rich variety serve as a prelude of the dazzling performances to come.
The Green Ladder
Fuhsiung WANG Changmin TSEN'G
Ch'inghsiang YUAN Assisted by: Xengchen SU
Kuoch'inK WANG
Daring feats are performed by a lovely girl atop a 12foot green bamboo ladder resting on the shoulder of her male partner. The balancing acts are precarious enough, but watch for the moment of climactic surprise.
Feather Dance
Manli WU Yuehchih HSIA Yulin WU
Shuchuan HSU Hsiuhun CHU
Pcichich VU Shuhui LIN'
The feather dance has had a long tradition in China, going back many dynasties. Contrary to what many would think, it was not invented by Sally Rand, and its was not necessarily meant for scantily clad showgirls.
Second Program Sixth Annual Asian Series Complete Programs 4018
Balancing Rhapsody
Ch'unmci CHANG Chinkuci CHU
Huochu CHANG Assisted by: K'ojen CHANG
One girl with another standing upside down over her climbs up and down a 12foot ladder which, instead of leaning at an angle, stands straight up. It is difficult enough to climb up such a ladder, but even more so to come down one, and with a load on one's mind.
Rolling Jars
Yuch'ing CHANG
Meiyu CHAXG
Assisted by: FengfinR CH'EN
Rolling Jars is another act that dates back centuries. Porcelain jars are heavy objects and easily breakable. To be able to juggle them at will, not only with hands but also with one's head, back or chest, is a unique art mastered so far only by the Chinese.
Flying Chinese Dolls
Fuhsiung VVANG Ch'inghsiang YUAN Pichu WU '
Chianan WANG Meihsians WANG
Annann WANG Chunmei VU
The man swirls an 11foot high pole. The girl flies around it, literally hanging by her teeth, and with both hands free. An act not to be imitated by those who wear dentures.
Rings and Rods
Chunmei CHANG Minghuan CHU Paochin TANG
Fengt'ing CH'EN Minghua CHU
Mingyu CHU Chinchang CHANG
Juggling as popular entertainment is as old as civilization itself. What distinguishes this act from others of a similar nature is its variety and fastchanging patterns.
Seesaw Rockets
Huochu CHANG
K'ojen CHANG
Yuch'ing CHANG
An act that normally is familiar to circusgoers the world over. Again, what sets these Chinese acrobats apart are their seemingly effortless grace and precision that come with years of training and discipline.
Chinese 'Ch'ikung'
Yungsen CHENG Mingfa LIN
Ijen K'O
Taiying Hsia CHENG
Xengchen SU
'Ch'ikung' are extraordinary feats that seem to defy physical laws, which the Chinese attribute to the cultivation of Ch'i, roughly translated as inner strength or life energy.
How else can one explain levitation, or winding a steel rod around one's neck, or using one's bare hand to hammer a nail through double inchandahalf thick boards
Pagoda of Chairs
K'ojen CHANG Yulung CHANG Yuashien WANG Paochuan TANG Hsiuhua CHU
Peichieh WU Shuchuan HSU Chinkuei CHU MinRtanR WU ChinchanK CHANG
Manli VU Yuehchih HSIA Yalin WU Shuhui LIN
Half a dozen chairs are placed one upon another, the bottom one resting on four beer bottles, which in turn stand on a rickety table. There is no safety wire around the acrobats' waist, nor any safety net underneath. Any slip of his or her hand from this precarious pagoda could be fatal.
INTERMISSION
Dancing Plates
Chunmei CHANG Chiu CHANG Shuyun LI HsiuyinR SHIH Meihsiang WANG Annan WANG
MinRhua CHU Mingyu CHU
Pichu VU Paochuan TANG Chinkuei CHU Huochu CHANG Meiyu CHANG inK CH'EN
Assisted by: Mingtang VU Minghuan CHU
Ch'inglisianR YUAN Chunmei WU Chianan WANG Shuchun HSIAO K'ojcn CHAXG Yuashicn WANG
Yulung CHAXG
A bevy of lovely girls, each spinning as many as four or six plates on long sticks, move in kaleidoscopic formations to the rhythm of Chinese classical music. Their precision, dexterity, grace, and ease make you forget that they are performing difficult gymnastic feats at the same time.
Jugglers' Delight
Chinch'ang CHANG
Paochuan T'ANG
For a change of pace, a series of stunts showing the light side of the Chinese Acrobats at their relaxed best. The trick with the bricks seems to defy Xewton's law of gravity. Like those with sticks and balls, however, it is but a display of consummate skill combined with long practice.
Feet
Chiu CHANG Minghuan CHU Ch'itiKhsianR YUAN
Meiyu CHANG
Chianan WANG Chunmei WU' MinKhua CHU
Assisted by: Meiyun WEN
Mingyu CHU Meihsiang WANG Pichu WU
A host of girls, all lying on their back, vie with each other in the things they can juggle with their nimble feet. One of them winds up as a human football with whom her sisters play catch.
Circle of Knives
Yulunc CHANG K'ojen CHANG
Yuashien WANG Chinkuci CHU
Mingtang VU
This is precision tumbling at its best. The five acrobats, in rapid succession, dive head first through three rings lined with sharp knives. Hold your breath for the end when they have to dive blindfolded through the burning rings, right into the lap of those who made the trip before.
Flower Drum Dance
Manli WU Yuehchih HSIA Yulin WU
Shuchuan HSU Hsiuhua CHU
Pcichich WU Shuhui LIN
The folk dance that gave its name to "Flower Drum Song," the Broadway musical made into a movie. It originated from Fcngyang of Anhwei province, birthplace of the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty (13681644 a.d.). The costumes are what Chinese village girls wore in more recent davs.
Chinese Somersault
MinRhua CHU MiriRyu CHU
Minuhuan CHU
Three sisters show off their acrobatic skills. During their 1975 tour, Burt Lancaster, no mean acrobat himself, especially praised this act as so difficult that he had never seen before.
Bicycle Jamboree
Chinkuei CHU Huochu CHANG Meihsiann WANG Shuchun HSIAO Mingyu CHU Meiyun WEN
Yuch'ing CHANG
Minghun CHU Meiyu CHANG Chunmei CHANG Cb'inghsiang YUAN Annan WANG
Assisted by: K'ojcn CHANG
Pichu WU Shuyun LI Hsiuying CHIH Fcnst'ing CH'EX Shuchuan CHU
YulunR CHANG
Whether it is a unicycle or a bicycle, high seat or low scat, these riders manipulate their mount as effortlessly as if they were born on wheels. Watch for the climax when eleven--yes, count them-acrobats climb onto the same bicycle.
Chinese 'Kungfu'
Nengchen SU Junghui SUN
Wencheng HUANG
Ijen K'O
Minghsiung HSIAO Hsiehfa HSU
Six masters of ancient martial arts demonstrate their specialties. The difference between this act and Bruce Lee movies is that this is all lor real. All the performers in this number have their own kungfu schools in Taiwan. The concluding skit, in which a man wielding a threesection staff is pitted against three others with more conventional Chinese weapons, represents real danger for injury or death for each of the participants.
Human Pyramids
Yuch'ins CHANG K'ojen CHANG Chunmci CHANG Chiu CHANG Shuyun LI Hsiuying CHIH Yuashien WANG Mingtang WU Changmin TSENG Meihsiang WANG
Annan WANG Pichu WU Shuchun HSIAO MinRhuan CHU Shuchuan CHU Yulung CHANG Chinchant; CHANG Huochu CHANG Meiyu CHANG CH'EN
Mciyun WEN Paochuan TANG Fuhsiunj; WANG Kuoch'int; WANG Chianan WANG Ch'inghsiang YUAN Chunmci VU Minghua CHU Minnyu CHU Chinkuei CHU
The grand finale shows the exciting variations and possible combinations of Chinese acrobatics. With most members of the company on stage, it presents a fitting climax to an evening of entertain?ment in old Cathay.
COMING EVENTS
Ruth Laredo, Pianist........(aft.) Sunday, November 7
Beethoven: Sonata in Eflat, Op. 81a; Scriabin; Poeme, Op. 32, Sonata No. 9; Rachmaninoff:
Three Etudes Tableaux; Ravel: Valses nobles et sentimentales, La Valsc.
Victor Herbert's Naughty Marietta......Friday & Saturday,
November 12 & 13 London Philharmonic OrchestraHaitink . . . Sunday, November 14
Arnold: The Philharmonic Concerto; Elgar: Introduction and Allegro for Strings; Mahler:
Symphony No. 5. Elly Ameling, Soprano........Tuesday, November 16
Mozart: Six Songs; Schubert: Five Songs; Martin: Drey Minnelieder; Faure: Mandoline,
Au bord de l'eau, Arpege, Les Roses d'Ispahan, La Rose; Satie: Ludions, La Diva de l'Empire. Aeolian Chamber Players........Saturday, November 20
Haydn: Trio in G, No. 31; Bolcom: "Whisper Moon"; Bartok: "Contrasts"; Brahms: Trio
in C minor, Op. 101.
Handel's "Messiah".....Friday & Saturday, December 3 & 4,
(aft.) Sunday, December 5
University Choral Union, Intcrlochen Orchestra, Kathryn Bouleyn, soprano, Lili Chookasian,
contralto, Vinson Cole, tenor, Simon Estes, bass, Donald Bryant, conductor.
Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Ballet . . (sold out) Thursday, Friday, Saturday,
The Pittsburgh Ballet December 16, 17, 18
Verdi's La Traviata--Canadian Opera Company .... Sunday, January 9
JeanPierre Rampal, Flutist.....(sold out) Friday, January 14
Prague Chamber Orchestra........Saturday, January IS
Michael Ponti, Pianist.........Tuesday, January 25
Beethoven: Eroica Variations, Op. 35; Chopin: Sonata in Bflat minor; Scriabin: Three
Preludes, Op. 35, Satanic Poem, Op. 36; Rachmaninoff: Sonata in Bflat minor, Op. 36.
Royal Winnipeg Ballet.........Saturday & Sunday,
January 29 & 30
Danzas Venezuela.........Wednesday, February 2
Warsaw Quintet (piano and strings).....Thursday, February 3
Jorge Bolet, Pianist..........Saturday, February 5
Haydn: Sonata in Eflat major; Schumann: Carnaval, Op. 9; Brahms: Sonata in F minor,
Op. 5.
Rajko--Gypsy Orchestra and Dancers.....Sunday, February 6
Leningrad Symphony OrchestraTemirkanov . . . Thursday, February 10 Guarneri String Quartet........Saturday, February 19
Beethoven: Op. 18, Xo. 1 in F major; Op. 74 in Eflat major; Op. 131 in Csharp minor.
Guarneri String Quartet.....(sold out) Sunday, February 20
Alvin Ailey Dance Theater.....Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
February 21, 22, 23
JeanPierre Rampal, Flutist.....(sold out) Friday, February 25
Yamini Krishnamurti, South Indian Dancer .... Monday, February 28 Czech Philharmonic OrchestraNeumann .... Thursday, March 3
Smetana: Overture to The Bartered Bride; Martinu: Symphony NTo. 6; Dvorak: Symphony
No. 7.
Janos Starker, Cellist..........Monday, March 14
Masked DanceDrama of Korea......Wednesday, March 16
Detroit Symphony OrchestraChoral UnionSoloists . . Sunday, March 20
Ceccato conducts Beethoven's "Missa Solemnis" Frans Brueggen, Flute & Recorder .... (sold out) Tuesday, March 22
Yugoslav National Folk Ballet.......Thursday, March 24
Osipov Balalaika Orchestra........Saturday, March 26
Third Annual Benefit Concert........Friday, April 15
Guarneri String Quartet........Saturday & Sunday,
April 16 & 17
May Festival.........Wednesday through Saturday,
April 27, 28, 29, 30
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
Burton Memorial Tower, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 Phones: 6653717, 7642538