UMS Concert Program, October 9, 1987: Chinese Children's Palace Of Hangzhou --

Season: 109th
Concert: Sixth
Power Center For The Performing Arts Ann Arbor, Michigan

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THE UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
Chinese Children's Palace of Hangzhou
(The Zhejiang Provincial Youth Cultural Arts Delegation)
Friday Evening, October 9, 1987, at 8:00
Power Center for the Performing Arts
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Xing Shi, General Manager and Artistic Director
Xiangyou Sheng, Secretary General
Gensheng Wang, Acrobatic Coach
Zeying Zhou, Choreographer
Duozhi Wu, Acrobatic Manager
Xin Zhu, Secretary and Interpreter
Qianbin Li, Interpreter Luhunc; Wang, Stage Technician
Female Acrobats
Xinqun Zhou
Qiaomci Zheng
Haiying Chen
Jing Shcn
Xingjuan Chen
Yan Zhang
Lujuan Gu
Shuihong Xie
Jin'na Wang
Guoping Sun
Male Acrobats
Shan Chen
Gang Shao
Qiang Shao
Chcnxi Ruan
Female Dancers Yuan Zhang
LiXu
Xiaoyan Li
Xia Xie
Jing Fu
Chong Shan
Ping Zhu
Lei Han
Lei Jin
Male Dancers
Qishcng Zhang
Wcnbiao Xu
Binjic Huang
Xiaowcn Di
Jian Jin Shezhong Wang
Musicians
Zhanghua Wu, Dizi (Chinese Transverse Flute) Huifang Wang, Yangqin (Chinese Hammered Dulcimer)
Pingping Guo, Pipa (Chinese Lute)
Xinwei Zhang, Sheng (Mouth Pipe Organ)
Bo Tao, Erhu (Chinese Two-string Fiddle) and
Xiao (Chinese Vertical Bamboo Flute)
Lihua Mao, Zheng (Chinese Horizontal Harp)
Hanxiao Zhou, Gehu (Bass Stringed Instrument)
Cameras and recording devices arc not allowed in the auditorium.
Sixth Concert of the 109th Season Seventeenth Annual Choice Scries
PROGRAM
Picking Tea Leaves
Zhejiang modern folk dance. Eight girls are picking the leaves of the Zhcjiang Dragon Well (Longjin) tea, the most famous of all green teas in China.
Plate Spinning
Spinning plates on bamboo sticks is an entertaining way of exhibiting one's best porcelain dinnerware.
Song of the Horsemen
A vigorous dance portraying the feats of fierce horsewarriors from the vast grasslands of Inner Mongolia.
Pagoda of Bowls
Stone carvings from a tomb of the Han Dynasty portray these same poses performed over 2,000 years ago. This is one art that continues to be passed down through the generations -from mother to daughter -as the basic limbering skills that must be trained from earliest childhood.
Performed by Haiying Chen
Balancing with Plank on Roly-Poly with Ladders and Chairs Performed by Shuihong Xic and Lijuan Gu
or
Moonlight Ballet of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 a.d.)
Willowy young spirits dance in a bath of moonlight while the music paints their costumes the colors of the rainbow.
Shao Brothers
"Morning"
Dizi Solo
or
"Mongolian Horserace"
Erhu Solo, arranged by Liqun Shen
Sea Fantasy
A fisherman's ballet of the wind and waves, accompanied by a surprising modern Chinese mixture of western classical-type orchestral music and contemporary pop.
INTERMISSION
"Happy Song"
Traditional Chinese Instrumental Ensemble, arranged by Tichou Shcn
Young Girls in the Rain
Eight young girls play in the fine misty rain by beautiful West Lake in Hangzhou.
Shao Brothers
"Singing in the Evening from the Fisherman's Boat"
Ancient music for a 2,000-ycar-old instrument with 25 strings.
Zheng Solo
or
"Ambushed from All Sides"
Depicting a famous battle 1,800 years ago, in music of the same period.
Pipa Solo
Balancing on Steel Pipes
Performed by Chenxi Ruan or
Boys Fooling Around at the Lantern Festival
This dance celebrates the traditional Lantern Festival Night -the 15th day of the first lunar month of the year-with ever-changing hat shapes and firecrackers.
"Spring on the Pasture"
Shcng Solo
or
"Festival on Tian Mountain"
Yangqin Solo, arranged by Minqing Guo
Foot Juggling
Fun with a giant fan, a parasol, and some carpets. Silk fans and parasols, as well as rugs, are all popular products of Hangzhou.
Performed by Yan Zhang and Shuihong Xie
Lion Dance
Finale
The Entire Ensemble
The Chinese Children's Palace of Hangzhou
The extraordinarily talented young people of China develop their artistic specialties in one of the hundreds of "Children's Palaces" situated throughout the vast country. The Palaces serve as training centers in which young people develop their skills in the traditional arts of music, dance, acting, and acrobatics. Dressed in brilliant national costumes, these exceptional youths execute the beautiful, intricate, and often daring movements which have evolved over many centuries into a representation of one of the world's most ancient cultures.
The young artists of the Chinese Children's Palace of Hangzhou have been specially chosen to represent Zhejiang Province in this "youth cultural delegation." Ranging in age from ten to eighteen, members of the company originate principally from the Zhejiang School of Performing Arts and from the Hangzhou Youth Acrobatic Troupe. Other major cities in the province, such as Ningbo, have also contributed talented members to the company.
The ensemble performs Chinese classical and folk music, national and regional dances, and breathtaking acrobatics. The musicians play traditional instruments such as the dizi (Chinese flute), pipa (Chinese lute), yangqin (hammered dulcimer), and erhu (two-stringed fiddle), which give the music its pure, delicate sound; the dances performed by the troupe are based on events that were commonly experienced by the Chinese people in both their recent and more distant pasts; and the acrobatic acts range from spectacular to the humorous.
Teenagers' Art Ensemble of Zhejiang Province
The actors, musicians, and dancers of this ensemble are selected from the students of the Zhejiang Art School. The school, which was founded in 1958 and authorized by the government in 1980 as the key art school of the province, is located near beautiful West Lake in Hangzhou. Classes in music, dance, traditional opera, and stage arts are conducted by teachers who arc, themselves, famous masters of their arts. The well-known Peking opera actor Jiaotian Gai, who is praised as the "Living Wu Song of South China"; Shucijuan Yao, the "Queen of Shaozing Opera"; and Zhao Song Ting, South China's "King of the Bamboo Flute," are only a few of the esteemed teachers that serve on the faculty of the school.
Many graduates of the Zhejiang Art School have joined artistic ensembles in their home provinces and have won prizes in local and national theatrical festivals; others have enrolled in art institutes to pursue advanced studies. Graduates of the school's music and dance programs can be seen performing to great acclaim in the theaters of Asia, Africa, Europe, and America.
The Teenagers' Art Ensemble's repertoire is made up of the traditional folk music and dances of Zhejiang Province and of the entire nation. Each has its own particular meaning and form and combines an overall national style with distinctive local features.
Hangzhou Youth Acrobatic Troupe
The Hangzhou Youth Acrobatic Troupe is made up of teenagers and younger performers who have had five years of stage experience and six years of specialized acrobatic training at Zhejiang Art School. Mr. Gcnsheng Wang, acrobatic coach of the troupe, and Mrs. Meiying Qi, artistic director, are both famous Chinese acrobats with more than forty years of professional experience.
The company is well-known in China for its skillful performances of programs based on Chinese traditional acrobatics, giving five performances weekly in its own Hangzhou Theater for Chinese and international tourists. One of this evening's offerings, "Pagoda of Bowls," won first prize at the First Chinese National Acrobatic Competition in 1984.
The group has toured Japan and elsewhere four times since 1982, and their performances at Disney World in 1985 were extended to over four months due to audience demand.
Columbia Artists Festivals thanks the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation for its assistance in making this cultural exchange tour possible.
PRE-CONCERT PRESENTATIONS
In the belief that increased understanding brings increased pleasure, the University Musical Society is pleased to offer these Pre-concert Presentations to our concertgocrs through December -all will be held in the Rackham Building on East Washington Street.
Sunday, Oct. 11 at 3:00, preceding the Leningrad State Symphony of the U.S.S.R. Speaker: James Borders Topic: Shostakovich and Beethoven: Approaches to Form Assistant Professor of Music, Associate Curator of the Stearns Collection, U-M
Friday, Oct. 16 at 7:00, preceding Erick Hawkins Dance Company Speaker: Ross Lee Finney Topic: Composing Music for Dance
ProfessorComposer-in-Residence Emeritus, U-M. Three HawkinsFinney works will be performed in Ann Arbor: Ahab, Hcyoka, and The Joshua Tree.
Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 7:00, preceding Vienna String Trio
Speaker: Norman Fischer Topic: Chamber Music: A Listener's Feast
Associate Professor of Music, Obcrlin College; former cellist of Concord String Quartet
Friday, Nov. 20 at 7:00, preceding Elena Obraztsova, mezzo-soprano
Speaker: Leslie Guinn Topic: Between Studio and Stage: Exploring the Singer's World Professor of Voice, Director of the Division of Vocal Arts, U-M
Thursday, Dec. 10 at 7:00, preceding The Swingle Singers Speaker: Donald Bryant Topic: Humor in Music Choral Union Conductor, Musical Society; Director of Music, First Presbyterian Church
These presentations are open to the public at S3 per person, with tickets available at the door; complimentary admission to Encore and Cheers! members and students with valid I.D. cards. (For information about joining Cheers! or Encore, call 764-8489.)
Watch for announcement of 1988 Pre-concert Presentations.
UNIVERSITY MUSICAL SOCIETY
Burton Memorial Tower, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1270 Telephone: (313) 764-2538