On the evening of August 22, local time, as one of the series of activities of "Focusing on China", Yang Liping's modern dance drama "Spring Festival", jointly commissioned and co-produced by the China Shanghai International Arts Festival and the Edinburgh International Arts Festival, debuted at the Edinburgh International Arts Festival.
From August 3 to 24, a total of 6 plays were selected for the "Focus on China". Among them, two plays were invited to the stage of the Edinburgh International Arts Festival: the Dvořák and Shostakovich concerts of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra conducted by Yu Long and Yang Liping's modern dance drama "The Estede of Spring". The Shanghai Conservatory of Music's chamber musical "Dream Lin tang Xianzu", the Helen O'Grady Drama Academy's children's musical "Blue Bird", Beijing AiTa Culture and Art Co., Ltd.'s mythological stage play "Zhong Kui" and the ual performance lab's body play "Qi" landed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
"Festival of Spring"
This year's "Focus on China" selected repertoire, based on the classic myths, national history and literary classics in China's excellent traditional culture, combined with Western theatrical performance techniques and creation theories, not only upgrades the form of the repertoire, but also targets a more diverse audience group, which will bring an artistic feast of chinese and Western cultural collision and fusion to the global audience of the festival.
At the "Focus on China" and Charm Shanghai Promotion Event held after the performance on the 22nd, more than 100 people attended the event, including representatives of Chinese and British government departments, heads of theater troupes and their representatives, main creators of the play, representatives of cooperative institutions, representatives of the British cultural and creative community and media, and artists. Chen Wen, Minister of the Chinese Embassy in the Uk, Fergus Lennahhan, Director of the Edinburgh International Arts Festival, Wang Jun, President of the Shanghai International Arts Festival Center in China, Shauna McCarthy, President of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and Yang Liping, a famous Chinese dancer, delivered speeches respectively.
In her speech, Chen Wen said that this year is the third time that the "Focus on China" event has appeared in Edinburgh, bringing a number of wonderful plays to local audiences. The "Focus on China" event itself is also an excellent "play", the first act is an eclectic Chinese story; the second act is the story of the rapid development of Shanghai; the third act is a mutually beneficial and win-win Chinese-English story. Civilizations are enriched by exchanges, and civilizations are enriched by mutual learning. It is hoped that with the joint efforts of the two countries, China and the UK will deepen people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, so that more Chinese and British people can fully feel each other's cultural charm.
Wang Jun said that under the framework of the China-UK people-to-people exchange mechanism, the exchanges and cooperation between the China Shanghai International Arts Festival and the UK are getting closer and closer. From the UK-China Performing Arts Forum in 2015 to the 2017 China Shanghai International Arts Festival joining the Edinburgh Festival's Momentum programme, it has built bridges for Chinese and international art creators and created new opportunities for networking, exchange and future collaboration. Today, the China Shanghai International Arts Festival, together with the Edinburgh International Arts Festival, the Shadler's Well Dance Theatre in the United Kingdom, the Melbourne Arts Festival and other international first-line performing arts institutions, has jointly produced Yang Liping's "Spring Festival", and the flowers of art have bloomed brilliantly.
Yang Liping said that she thanked the Shanghai International Arts Festival and the Edinburgh International Arts Festival for providing an opportunity to bring this work full of Chinese ethnic minority elements and Oriental characteristics to everyone, and it is very happy that everyone can enjoy it. There are many young actors in the performance, they are the future of Chinese dance, I hope that through our joint efforts, the future of Chinese dance can be more brilliant.
In his speech, Reinerhan said that he was very pleased to be able to co-commission and successfully premiere the "Spring Festival" with the Shanghai International Arts Festival in China, which contained the painstaking efforts of countless people. This year's two Edinburgh International Arts Festival plays were selected for the "Focus on China" project for the first time, which also means that artists and works from China have gathered more and more world attention, and it is expected that more outstanding Chinese plays can appear on the stage of the Edinburgh International Arts Festival.
BlueBird
McCarthy said that as one of the world's largest arts festivals, this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival has once again welcomed many Chinese plays, and four of them have been selected for the "Focus on China" project. The Fringe Festival is known for its inclusiveness and diversity, and the return of "Focus on China" has also allowed more outstanding Chinese plays to stand out from thousands of performances.
At the event, Yin Xin, Director of the Press Office of the Shanghai Municipal Government, presented a picture album to Julia Amo, Director of the Edinburgh Festival Association.
2019 Edinburgh "Focus on China" series of activities, with the support of the Bureau of International Exchange and Cooperation of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China, the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, the Cultural Department of the Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the Uk, the Chinese Tourism Office in London and the Information Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, hosted by the China Shanghai International Arts Festival Center and co-organized by the Shanghai Chengshi Brand Development Center, aims to strengthen the exchange and cooperation between Chinese and British cultures in the governments, institutions and industries of the two countries, and better leverage the international high-level art festival platform It focuses on displaying China's contemporary outstanding performing arts, actively promotes the "going out" of Chinese culture, and helps Chinese cultural products enter the international market.
As the two most influential art festivals in the world, the Shanghai International Arts Festival Center in China and the Edinburgh International Arts Festival have successfully carried out a series of project cooperation and personnel exchanges. Represented by "The Charity of Spring", the multi-ministerial works of the Shanghai International Arts Festival in China are competing to be favored and chased by the global cultural performance market with a stride of "going out". During the "Focus on China" series of performances, the "Charm of Shanghai" photo exhibition and the Shanghai City Image Film were unveiled in multiple performance venues, focusing on Shanghai's urban style, humanistic arts and contemporary life portrayals, allowing British audiences to feel the charm of Shanghai while focusing on Chinese art.
As an important project of the China-UK people-to-people exchange mechanism, "Focus on China" has enabled Chinese and British theater artists to have more in-depth development and progress in the atmosphere of mutual reference and appreciation, and at the same time laid the foundation for gathering more outstanding Chinese original works on the international stage in the future, as well as the joint production of Chinese and British dramas.