China Daily Global Edition (USA)
Local performers go digital to beat virus
Despite the outbreak of COVID19, which stopped art performers from going abroad, crossborder cultural exchanges in Liaoning province still managed to continue.
By staging their performances online, performers in Liaoning brought joy to audiences in countries such as Japan, Canada, Egypt, Mongolia, and New Zealand, playing important roles in spreading Chinese culture across the world, according to local officials.
Performance organizations in Liaoning arranged an array of online performances during the Spring Festival holiday, over Feb 11-17, to demonstrate the charm of Chinese culture and offer worldwide greetings.
Liaoning Ballet of China staged the Molihua, also known as Jasmine Flowers, an original ballet which infused Chinese traditional elements for audiences in Portugal, Britain and Argentina.
Ballet Mulan told the story of Hua Mulan, who disguised herself as a man to join the army for her father in ancient China. The show interpreted Chinese people’s deep love for family and country. Its composer also integrated classical Chinese dance with modern dance to make the show more spectacular.
Mulan, Molihua, and another ballet named Figurines were presented at the Spring Festival foreign exchange performance program and impressed many overseas audiences, local officials said.
Liaoning Song and Dance Troupe staged the performance known as Ode to the Moon. The performance adopted a variety of artistic techniques and creatively integrated poetry, dance and acrobatics to spread Chinese culture.
Some audiences commented that the dance Ode to the Moon is just like a long picture unfolding slowly, with beautiful figures and profound Chinese artistic concept.
This year, Liaoning adopted different ways to promote Chinese culture across the world. Apart from onstage performances, local cultural promotion bodies also arranged exhibitions and made documentary films to give foreign people more ideas about Liaoning.
On an overseas broadcasting platform named Charming China, Liaoning provided a series of programs to display its precious cultural heritage, folk customs during Spring Festival and artistic achievements. Liaoning’s section was among the most watched on this platform, according to local officials.
Liaoning has provided a total of 1,008 episodes of culture-centered video clips to Charming China so far, reaching audiences from 11 countries including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Bulgaria, Greece, Brazil, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.