Suzhou Culture and Art Exhibition Week was held in Beijing

"My Name is Lilac" Stills Courtesy of China Foreign Culture Group

Moving ballet gestures, magnificent symphonic music, touching storyline... On the evening of January 7th, Suzhou Ballet's original ballet "My Name is Lilac" was performed at the Beijing Tianqiao Art Center as the opening performance of the Suzhou Culture and Art Exhibition Week of "Meet Beijing and Meet Jiangnan". The Suzhou Culture and Art Exhibition Week is an important part of the "Meet in Beijing" Olympic Cultural Festival and the 22nd "Meet in Beijing" International Arts Festival, from January 6 to 20, the event will be in the form of high-quality repertoire performances, "Suzhou New Year" Experience Week, intangible cultural heritage documentary film screenings and other forms, showing the original taste of Gusu with a very Jiangnan texture.

"My Name Is Lilac" tells the story of the martyr Lilac, the Chinese People's Liberation Army propagandist Zhong Man and the modern youth Le Lilac who inherit the revolutionary faith. Wang Quanxing, director of Suzhou Ballet, said: "In the past two years, although we have been unable to perform abroad due to the epidemic, we still insist on telling Chinese stories and disseminating Chinese culture as our key tasks. Suzhou Ballet hopes to show the artistic style of Chinese ballet and highlight the infinite charm of Jiangnan culture through its unremitting efforts. ”

At the same time, the "Suzhou New Year", which is the key activity of the exhibition week, was also held at the Beijing Tianqiao Art Center. This activity vividly displayed Suzhou's intangible cultural heritage: Peach Blossom Woodblock New Year Paintings, Paper Cutting, Lanterns, Song Jin, Su Embroidery, Su-style Cake Dumplings, Pingwang Spicy Sauce, Biluochun, guqin, Kunqu opera, Pingtan and other representative "Suzhou sounds", so that viewers can immerse themselves in the aesthetics of Su-style life without leaving "Beijing". The organizers also specially invited Zhou Jianming, a national non-hereditary inheritor of nuclear carving, Zou Yingzi, a master of Chinese arts and crafts, Song Weidong, a provincial inheritor of Ming-style furniture, and Pei Jinbao, a guqin player, to interact with the audience on the spot.