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The taking of photographs and the use of recording equipment are not allowed in this venue.
Program order and artists are subject to change.

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Program

Dongpo: Life in Poems is the latest contemporary operatic dance directed by the international acclaimed dancer, choreographer, director, and painter Shen Wei. Produced and performed by the China Oriental Performing Arts Group, this work embodies the Chinese traditional culture through a contemporary expression. The production is based on the poetry and life experiences of the renowned Chinese poet Su Shi (Su Dongpo 1037-1101) in the Song Dynasty. This production goes beyond a specific depiction of a poet's life. The work extends the movement language of modern dance and ballet by the deep integration of Chinese Opera, Tai Chi, and Visual Arts with a combination of Guqin music and contemporary music. It showcases the poet Dongpo's soul, affection, melancholy, homesickness, and his optimism in getting along with the world calmly and with ease, along with the utilization of multiple art forms such as poetry, calligraphy, painting, and seal engraving. The work transforms the comprehension of poetry into self-perception, then externalizes it through body movement and multiple audiovisual expressions. This work summarizes the poet's emotions throughout his life into 12 pieces of his poems. The contemplation, questioning, dreaming, intoxication, sorrow, lingering, and unrestrained emotions expressed in these poems are accessibly experienced and easily awakened to all beings in their vast and diverse lives, regardless of their Eastern or Western origins. A connection with the poet Dongpo from a millennium ago stimulates a spiritual bond and further enables a comprehension of the transcultural and universally shared love with intellectual and spiritual essence that unites humanity.

Synopsis

Act IAct I

Act IIAct II

Act IIIAct III

Act IVAct IV

Act VAct V

Act VIAct VI

Music

Shi Le Yuan (Enchantements oubliés)

Composer: Chen Qigang

Publisher: Gerard Billaudot Editeur

Conductor: Alan Gilbert

Recording by: French Radio Philharmonic Orchestra

Ru Xi Ren Sheng (Itinéraire d'une illusion)

Composer: Chen Qigang

Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd.

Conductor: Tugan Sokhiev

Recording by: Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse

Jiang Tcheng Tse

Composer: Chen Qigang

Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd.

Conductor: Lü Jia

Recording by: China NCPA Orchestra and Chorus

Voice: Meng Meng

Guqin Pieces

Yi Gu Ren (Recalling an Old Friend)

Recording by: Gong Yi

Live performance: Zhao Xiaoxia

Jiu Kuang (Drunken Madness)

Recording by: Li Xiangting

Live performance: Zhao Xiaoxia

Yang Guan San Die (The Yang Guan Melody with a Refrain Repeated Thrice)

Recording by: Gong Yi

Bei Xi Tong Yuan (La joie de la souffrance)

Shi Le Yuan (Enchantements oubliés)

Composer: Chen Qigang

Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers Ltd.

Conductor: Yu Long

Recording by: Maxim Vengerov, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra

Live performance: Zhao Xiaoxia

Qiu Shui (Autumn Water)

Recording by: Zeng Chengwei

Shen Ren Chang (Partying with Deities)

Live performance: Zhao Xiaoxia

Painting

Xiaoxiang Bamboo and Stone Picture

Su Dongpo (1080-1085) ink painting, silk, 28cm long, 106cm wide, hand scroll.

Untitled NO.8

Shen Wei

Untitled NO.11

Shen Wei

Butterflies, Grasshopper and Water plants Painting

Zhao Chang (970-1040) ink and color painting, paper, 27.7cm long, 91cm wide, hand scroll.

Untitled NO.6

Shen Wei

Video

Movement - Painting - Shen Ren Chang (hand brush painting video)

Shen Wei

Calligraphy and Seal Engraving

Su Dongpo's Poems and Seals

Yang Tao

Program Notes

Acknowledgements and Credits

China Arts and Entertainment Group

China Arts and Entertainment Group Ltd. (CAEG) was founded in April 2004, and its two major subsidiaries China Performing Arts Agency (CPAA) and China International Exhibition Agency (CIEA) were established in 1957 and 1950, respectively. As China's only central state-owned cultural enterprise that has performance and exhibition business worldwide, CAEG has developed a nationwide market network of international performing arts, art exhibitions, and culture & tourism and theater operation, and set up branches in major cities in China and some European and American countries. It initially established an integrative operating system under the guidance of "Starting from China and going global" and is expanding its presence at home and abroad. CAEG was elected one of the "Top 30 China Cultural Enterprises" for eight consecutive years since 2009. CAEG stages over 5,000 different kinds of performances, exhibitions and other cultural activities at home and abroad every year. Based on 20 theaters that directly owned and managed by the CPAA Theaters, CAEG has initiated and organized a league of domestic theaters with 70 CPAA allied-theaters across 27 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, and the "Silk Road International League of Theatres" (SRILT) for countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative. CAEG's productions include several multimedia shows such as ERA-Intersection of Time, Shaolin Warriors, the original opera production Marco Polo, and the Chinese version of world classic musicals Mamma Mia! and Cats, which pool domestic and foreign resources and cater to both domestic and overseas markets.

Image China

Image China is a high-end cultural exchange brand presented by China Arts and Entertainment Group that aims to introduce traditional and contemporary Chinese performing arts to audiences around the world. Since its inception in 2009, Image China has presented over 40 stage works by more than 30 Chinese performing arts troupes at world-famous venues in USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries, with a total of more than 600 performances and one million audience members. Its dance drama productions that were presented in USA include: Forbidden Fruit under the Great Wall (Kennedy Center, 2010), Silk Road (Kennedy Center, 2011; Lincoln Center, 2013), The Peony Pavilion (Lincoln Center, 2012), Qingming Riverside (Kennedy Center, 2013), Wedding of Ordos (Kennedy Center, 2014), The Red Dress (Lincoln Center, 2014), The Legend of Mulan (Lincoln Center, 2015), Dragon Boat Racing (Lincoln Center, 2016; Kennedy Center and Kimmel Center, 2018), Confucius (Lincoln Center and Kennedy Center, 2017), Soaring Wings (Lincoln Center and Boch Center, 2018), Princess Zhaojun (Boch Center and Lincoln Center, 2019) and Mulan (Boch Center and Kennedy Center, 2023).

American Dance Festival

Throughout its 91-year history, the American Dance Festival has been the home of an art form, attracting artists, audiences, and thousands of students worldwide. By preserving our modern dance heritage, promoting the creation of new works and collaborations, educating generations of dancers through intensive training programs, supporting artists at all stages of their careers, presenting live and screen dance to the public, and developing humanities and international exchange programs, ADF has served as a laboratory for experimentation and innovation. Shen Wei's work first appeared at ADF in 1995. He founded his company at ADF in 2000 and has been commissioned 16 times by ADF. In 2022, Shen Wei was presented with the $50,000 Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement. ADF was founded at the Bennington School of Dance and moved to Connecticut College in 1948. For the past 47 years, ADF has taken pride in calling Duke University and Durham home. Since 2012, ADF has managed its first year-round facilities, the Samuel H. Scripps Studios, offering movement classes for students of all ages and abilities, as well as choreographic residencies and outreach programs throughout the community.