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Award-winning dancer "Peacock Princess" Yang Liping, of the Bai ethnic minority from Yunnan, China, will premiere in Hong Kong at the musical spectacular "Dynamic Yunnan - Search for Shangri-la".
Yang started her dancing career in the Xishuangbanna Prefecture Song and Dance Troupe in 1971. She was the lead dancer in the grand ethnic dance musical "Peacock Princess", which was awarded the Golden Award for Performing Arts of Yunnan in 1979. She came into prominence with "Spirit of the Peacock", which she choreographed and performed herself in 1986; it won the Golden Award of Chinese 20th Century Classical Work in 1994. This solo work also won for her a Class One Award for Originality and the First Prize in Performance at the 2nd All China Dance Competition. In 1990, she performed this dance at the closing ceremony of the 11th Asian Games in Beijing. Between 2004 and 2008, Yang Liping directed and choreographed a trilogy: "Dynamic Yunnan", "Echoes of Shangri-la" and "Tibetan Myth". In 2004, "Dynamic Yunnan" won five major awards at the National Lotus Awards, including Gold Award for Dance Spectacular, Best Choreography and Best Female Performer.
To create the exotic song and dance spectacular "Dynamic Yunnan", Yang spent years travelling to remote villages of the 26 ethnic minority tribes in Yunnan and selected over 60 peasants who had the natural gift of song and dance, from whom she built an archive re-creating this rich feast of sight and sound.
The production consists of six scenes: "PrologueˇVThe Dawn of Life", "Scene OneˇVThe Sun", "Scene TwoˇVThe Earth", "Scene ThreeˇVThe Land We Call Home", "Scene FourˇVPilgrimage", and "EpilogueˇVSpirit of the Peacock", a performance led by Yang. In Scene Two, Yang performs solo in "Moonlight", using an abstract and complex dance idiom to externalise her emotions and to portray the moon in its pure glory.
"Dynamic Yunnan ˇV Search for Shangrila" by Yang Liping and Dynamic Yunnan Song and Dance Troupe, is presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. It will be staged at 7.30pm, May 28 and 29 (Friday and Saturday), at the Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Tickets priced at $420, $300, $220 and $150 are now available at all URBTIX outlets. Half-price tickets are available for senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA)recipients (limited tickets for students and CSSA recipients available on a first come, first served basis). Group booking discount is also available. Please refer to the programme leaflet for details.
For programme enquiries, call 2268 7323; for ticketing enquiries and reservations, call 2734 9009; for credit card telephone bookings, call 2111 5999; for Internet bookings, visit www.urbtix.hk ; for more programme information, visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/cp .
Ends/Friday, April 2, 2010
Issued at HKT 10:03
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