UMS Concert Program, November 3, 1979: Chinese Acrobats And Magicians --

Season: 101st
Concert: Twentieth
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

itetfiatipnal
THE UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Chinese Acrobats and Magicians
of Taiwan
Saturday Evening, November 3, 1979, at 8:30 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM
Chinese Carnival
Yu-lung CHANG Yu-ching CHANG Ko-jen CHANG Mei-yu CHANG Huo-chu CHANG Hsu-yang LI King-chang CHANG Ying-lung HSU Ying-chia HSU Hsu-mei HAI Fu-nan WANG
Ching-hsiung YUAN Pi-chu WU Chun-mei WU Yu-kuei HON Nien-su HSU Tien-chu CHIANG Ming-hwa CHU Ming-huan CHU Ming-yu CHU Su-chuan CHU Ming-tang WU
Chinese Carnival recreates highlights of a typical Chinese festival, which took place several times a year in every village or township of yesterday. The acrobats fly around the stage, on the strength of muscles and nerves educated to what seems an almost superhuman degree.
Spinning Jar
Yu-ching CHANG Assisted by: Mei-yu CHANG and Hsu-yang LI
Spinning Jar is another act that dates back 2000 years. Porcelain jars are heavy objects and easily breakable. To be able to spin 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 Doll
Fu-nan WANG Pi-chu WU Ming-hwa CHU Ming-yu CHU
Hsiu-chuan WANG Chun-mei WU Ming-huan CHU Ming-tang WU
The man swirls an 11-foot pole. The girl flies around it, hanging by her teeth, with both hands free. An act not to be imitated by those who wear dentures.
101st Season -Twentieth Concert
Special Concert
The Green Ladder
Ming-tang WU Ming-huan CHU
Assisted by: Ming-hwa CHU, Te-feng CHANG, Ko-jen CHANG
Daring feats are performed by a lovely girl atop a 17.5-foot ladder resting, of all places, on the shoulder of her male partner. The balancing acts are precarious enough, but watch for the moment of climactic surprise.
Chinese "Ch'i-kung"
Te-feng CHANG Te-lung CHANG
Pi-ying HSU Yong-sen CHENG
Tai-ying Hsia Cheng-yuan KAO
"Ch'i-kung" 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.
The Lion Family
Yu-kuei HON Nien-su HSU
Tien-chu CHIANG Ko-jen CHANG
Ying-chia HSU Hsu-mei HAI
Spring has a special meaning to the farmer and so to the animals. Chinese Lunar New Year is the starting point of the spring. Farmers always perform the Lion dance to celebrate the New Year and pray for a splendid spring. In this number we see a lion family at play.
Grand Illusion
Chia-chen LIU Tai-shen LIU
Mao-po HSU Hsieh-ying LIANG
Pi-jung WU
The mighty magician can make fire fly and a handkerchief dance. All this magic exists only in the illusive world. Watch the magician as he practices a Chinese skill thousands of years old.
Fan Dance
Ch'i LIU Sophia LIN
Shaw-ing WANG Nai-nee CHEN
Ying YANG Hong-yen TAI
Su-sing TAI Peggy WU
A folk dance describes village girls enjoying their country life in the flower season. The flowers will remind the girls to think of their boyfriends who are far away from home now.
Flaming Rings
Ko-jen CHANG Yu-lung CHANG
King-chang CHANG Yu-ching CHANG
Ming-tang WU Ying-chia HSU
This is precision tumbling at its best. Note that the three rings are lined with sharp knives. Hold your breath for the climax.
Pagoda of Chairs
Ying-lung HSU Tse-ping Chang HSU
Assisted by: Jen-ho CHIH, Ko-jen CHANG, Yu-lung CHANG
Have you ever seen a pagoda resting on four beer bottles on a table There is no safety wire around the acrobat's waist, nor a safety net underneath. Any slip of his hand from this precarious pagoda could be fatal.
INTERMISSION
Dancing Plates
Ko-jen CHANG Yu-lung CHANG
Chun-mei CHANG Mei-yu CHANG
Huo-chu CHANG Hsu-yang LI
Fu-nan WANG Pi-chu WU
Chun-mei WU Ching-hsiung YUAN
Hsiu-chuan WANG Ming-hwa CHU
Ming-huan CHU Ming-yu CHU
Su-chuan CHU Ying-chia HSU
Yu-ching CHANG Ming-tang WU
A bevy of lovely girls, spinning as many as four or six plates each 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.
Juggling Delight
King-chang CHANG Assisted by: Peggy WU and Yu-kuei HON
For a change of pace, this boy kicks up cups and saucers, one after another, into the air, catching them on his head, or rather with his head. Tension mounts as the sets accumulate. No one can help chuckling over what he last attempts to put into the cup on the top of the pile.
Disappearing Swords
Chien-hwa CHEN Chien-ying CHEN
Shu-yang CHEN
A pretty young girl has a super throat and stomach.
Roll-up
Ching-hsiung YUAN Ming-hwa CHU
Pi-chu WU Ming-huan CHU
Chun-mei WU Ming-yu CHU
Three sisters show off their acrobatic skills. Try to figure out for yourself how this one is done.
Invisible Beauty
Chia-chen LIU Tai-shen LIU
Mao-po HSU Hsieh-ying LIANG
Pi-jung WU
A girl climbs up a rope hanging from the ceiling and then disappears. Only the magician can cause her reappearance.
Balancing Fantasy
Chun-mei CHANG Huo-chu CHANG
Assisted by: Yu-ching CHANG and Yu-lung CHANG
One of the most remarkable balancing feats in the world. We don't recommend it for home use.
Ribbon Dance
Ch'i LIU Sophia LIN
Shaw-ing WANG Nai-nee CHEN
Ying YANG Hong-yen TAI
Su-sing TAI Peggy WU
Ribbon Dance is perhaps the oldest of Chinese dances, as recorded by Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) bas-reliefs. The girls are dressed as the immortals in Chinese mythology. The fluttering ribbons weave intricate patterns and are never supposed to rest completely on the ground.
Chinese Kung-Fu
Cheng-mao ONG Chi-cheng LIU
Kuo-ton YEH Yuan-mao LIN
Yien-shyen YEH Mei-hsiu CHAN
Yu-kuei HON Nien-su HSU Tien-chu CHIANG
These are the unbelievable Chinese martial arts. A beautiful young girl with bare fists pitted against eight strong young men!
Human Pyramid
Yu-lung CHANG Yu-ching CHANG
Ko-jen CHANG Mei-yu CHANG
Huo-chu CHANG Chun-mei CHANG
Hsu-yang LI Ming-tang WU
Ying-lung HSU Ying-chia HSU
Hsu-mei HAI Tse-ping CHANG
Jen-ho CHIH Fu-nan WANG
Ching-hsiung YUAN Pi-chu WU
Chun-mei WU Hsiu-chuan WANG
Ming-hwa CHU Ming-huan CHU
Ming-yu CHU Su-chuan CHU King-chang CHANG
The Grand Finale shows the exciting variations and possible combinations of Chinese acrobatics. A fitting climax to an evening of entertainment in old Cathay.
THE MUSICIANS AND THEIR INSTRUMENTS
Yuan-hsin CHENG....................................... percussion instruments
Fang-yu KU ........................................... erh-hu (Chinese fiddle)
Yuan-ying YEH ................................................. p'i p'a (lute)
Ping LIN .............................................. erh-hu (Chinese fiddle)
Yueh-yun HUANG ................................... chung-hu (Chinese viola)
Lee-jen LIN..............................................yang ch'in (dulcimer)
Wuu-shyng WU ........................................ la-yuan (Chinese cello)
Tong-ko CHEN ................................. sheng (Chinese 17-tube pipe)
Sung-hui LIU .................................................... hsiao (flute)
Jwo-min CHEN, Company Director Rex Ta-Kung WANG, Associate Director
Huan-Chi LIAO, Stage Manager
Pao-Yung LIN, Assistant Stage Manager
Kuang-Yen NIEH, Lighting Director
Huei-Mei HSU, Dance Director Rom-Shing CHENG, Director of Music
About the Artists
The Chinese Acrobats and Magicians of Taiwan, a company of 75, including musicians, are making their third North American tour this season and their second Ann Arbor appearance this evening. The troupe once again shows Chinese acrobatics in its many varieties--superhuman acts of Ievitation, kung-fu and ch'i-kung, dances, tumbling and juggling acts, thrilling feats on bicycles, and breathtaking balancing acts. Far more than a series of stunts, Chinese acrobatics is an ancient and integral part of the Chinese culture, based on a desire for man to find perfect harmony between mind and body and thus achieve perfection.
On the current tour, Western audiences will have the opportunity, for the first time, to see astonishing feats of magic and illusion which go back over 2000 years in Chinese culture. These age-old illusions of the mysterious East are performed by the master Magicians of Taiwan, who are making their long-awaited North American debut.
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
Burton Memorial Tower, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 Phones: 66S-3717, 764-2538