介绍:
At the ongoing "Meet in Beijing" Arts Festival, an art troupe from Brigham Young University has brought its premiere team to China, aiming to captivate audiences with the magic of ballroom dance.
CRI's He Fei has more.
Reporter: Stretching his body in the concert hall of Tsinghua University, 24-year-old AJ Heaps is warming up for the show in the evening. Having traveled to China with his grandparents in 2005, the country is not a strange land to this American student. However, this is his first time coming here as a dancer.
"I am excited to be here for dance. The cool thing I like about dance is that something could be communicated without words. So here we are, performing for Chinese audiences. We can convey the emotion behind our pieces just with our bodies, with music. "
AJ and his peers might be fresh faces, but the art troupe they belong to - the Brigham Young University Performing Groups - is familiar to Chinese audiences. Thirty five years ago, as a project of cultural exchange, the musical theater group from BYU came to perform in Beijing.
Edward Blaser, director of performing arts management for the group, recalls that tour in 1979.
"It was Young Ambassadors, which is a musical variety show. But it's mostly musical dance from Broadway and Disney, music that people recognize in the west. They learned a few songs in Chinese, some folk songs. But the audience loved it."
At this year's "Meet in Beijing" Arts Festival, it is the ballroom dance company that will shine on the stage. As the champion of the prestigious Blackpool Dance Festival, the team is going to showcase its most famous piece: "Capture the Magic."
The artistic director of the company, Linda Wakefield, explains.
"It was one of our competition medleys. So I would say, this was one of the dances that we worked the hardest on. The routine itself is pretty much new. It's not even a year old. So we are excited about that, for both medleys. We have Latin medley and ballroom medley."
But what makes the show really stand out is unique humor and creativity; turning off the stage lamps and using fluorescent light, dancers all wear black to present famed Nintendo video games characters. Ninja Turtles chase after bad guys, Pac-Man starts to eat dots, and Super Mario races through the mushroom kingdom. The familiar music and light-hearted humor can tickle the funny bone of any visitor.
"I think this show is really good. Although the names of these dance pieces, such as waltz and cha-cha, they all sound familiar, the choreography is really fresh."
"The performance is excellent. Those dancers are very devoted and passionate. The show is really contagious."
Along with Beijing, the BYU Ballroom Dance Company will perform in Shanghai, Hong Kong and three other Chinese cities during this May.
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