NYU gives Chinese arts the top bill

On the 35th anniversary of the US and China establishing diplomatic ties, and in celebration of the opening of its Shanghai campus, New York University is celebrating China by spotlighting the country's performance arts in the school's annual Visions + Voices program.

For the next three months, NYU's Skirball performing arts center will present a number of Chinese stage performances, including TAO Dance Theater's contemporary dance and the National Theatre of China's US debut of a Chinese production of William Shakespeare's Richard III.

"Each year Visions + Voices gives us the opportunity to explore and highlight the culture and creativity from a featured local within NYU's Global Network," said Michael Harrington, executive director of the Skirball Center. "This year's Chinese artists and performers will showcase numerous works never before seen in America and we are thrilled to present them here in New York and offer opportunities for cultural discovery and understanding."

This year's series also features performances by the Hangzhou Yue Opera Company of renditions of two Ibsen plays, a screening of Zhang Meng's The Piano in a Factory, and the NYU Symphony Orchestra in a performance of composer Tan Dun's The Map.

Bringing a series of Chinese performances to New York for a college-aged audience involved more than a year of preparation and considerations of how the performances could connect with the university on a broader level, according to Harrington. He said the school wanted to bring in works that would appeal to a young adult audience about 18 to 35 years old.

"Since we're located within the university, that's a key piece of demographic we try to serve," he told China Daily. "We want to bring in a dance piece that's going to engage political science students and a theater piece that's going to engage the law school or business students."

Two of the shows will feature Chinese renditions of Western stories, which some audiences may not be used to, but Harrington said he was optimistic about audience reception.

"There could be [a cultural gap], but that's our job - to close that gap," he said.

TAO Dance Theater performances will run from Feb 20 to Feb 22; Hangzhou Yue Opera Company's Ibsen renditions will show on Feb 25 and 26; the National Theatre of China's production of Richard III will run from Mar 26 to Mar 30; The Piano in a Factory will be screened on Apr 12; and The Map will be performed on May 12.

amyhe@chinadailyusa.com