Penn State Altoona to present Chinese dance lecture demonstration

Wednesday, September 5, 2012 - 356 hits

ALTOONA — Penn State Altoona will present a lecture demonstration of folk and classical Chinese dance by Penn State Altoona’s emerging dance artist Ying Xu. This event will take place in the Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts at 12:10 p.m., Tuesday, September 18, 2012. It is free and open to the public.

Xu received her BFA in Chinese dance at the Beijing Dance Academy, one of the most prestigious dance schools in China. She received her MFA in modern dance at Case Western Reserve University. She has received many accolades for her choreography in international dance festivals and competitions in Hungary, Turkmenistan, Japan, London, Sarajevo, and Bosnia. She was an associate artistic director at National Art Palace in Beijing and a visiting scholar at Brigham Young University. Xu trained with the Paul Taylor Dance Company in New York City and performed the duet in the piece “Views of The Fleeting World,” choreographed by Pascal Rioult, the artistic director of Rioult Dance Company in New York. Recently, she participated at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, UK.

Xu notes, “Chinese dance has a long and glorious history. Chinese dance can be likened to Chinese calligraphy. The movements are like strokes of a brush that gracefully flow across the parchment, each stroke adds beauty and creates meaning. Chinese dance stems from ancient times, it has unique body rhyme, carriage and skills. Chinese dance typically emphasizes serenity. Just pay attention to how each breath contributes to the dancer's exquisite posture. Chinese dance is not always slow. Wugong, for example, can be very vigorous; movements are at a lightning fast pace using skills of high difficulty. The majority of Chinese dance can be classified into Chinese classical dance, the Chinese folk dance.”

For further information, call 814-949-5452.