By David Li, translated by Shuzhi Zhang, bostonese.com
Weston, Mass. — Angle Dance Company presented a brand new show Colors from the East on March 24 at Regis College. “Am I at Boston Flower and Garden show or at a dance show?” I asked myself at moments. The colorful costumes combined with modern lighting equipment used during the performance brought wonderful visual effect that wowed about 500 people in the audience. Many of them saw a live Chinese traditional dance show for the first time and enjoyed a fabulous evening.
Beautiful dance moves only matched by the colorful costumes. (all photos by John Tsou)
There were three sections of the entire show. The first one is a serious of dancing presenting the splendid cultures of the Han, Tang, and Ming Dynasties and the Dunhuang Art of the Silk Road. The Emcee’s a white evening gown made a sharp contrast to colorful dresses of the dancers. They mixed together to form the spring-feel pictures of the play.
During the intermission, I talked to Ms. Ying Wu, the vocal instructor of the Angel Dance Company. She told me that one of her new year resolutions was to reunite with her 4-year-old son in China this summer. This became true earlier than she wished as she pointed at her son sleeping in a seat because of the jet lag. Dick Calandrella, volunteer at the Acton Chinese Language School, told me that he and his wife had been watching many of the dancers growing up, and was very pleased with the wonderful performances.
The second half of the show consisted with various dances from China’s minority groups dancing, showing the diverse culture and art within China. The last part, leading by the I Believe moved to the modern dancing and the young dancers showed us their beauty and vitality. They performed many other plays such as Dunhuang Drum with Luck, Dancing with the Moon, Beauty as Peony, Woman from the Picture, Han’s Rhyme.
The trailer of the dance show The Embroidering Girl, created by Wuxi Performing Arts Group from Jiangsu province, China, was shown on the screen. It will be staged at John Hancock Hall on May 26 in Boston, presented By AGIS Center for Arts and Humanities, Inc. and Angel Dance Company in honor of Asian Heritage Month. This national award-winning traditional grand dance drama will also be staged at the Opera House of Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. on May 31 and June 1, 2013.
The performances came to the end with the cheerful dance Coolest Ethnic. At last, fifty four performers went back to the stage, and the audience showed their appreciation with thunderous applause. Led by the Art Director Ke Ke, outstanding instructors Yifeng Liu, Shan Guan, Ying Wu, graduating dancers Lily Ma, Melissa Lee, Ellen Yang, Kimberly Liu, and teaching assistant Olivia Zhong, Michelle Zhang, Susy Liu, Sabrina Zhang accepted flowers from the audience.
Still full of excitement, Ke Ke expressed her sincere thanks to all the staffers and parents of the young dances whose efforts contributed greatly to the success of the show. “I’m so proud of all the students and their excellent performances,” said Ke Ke.