Jin Xing Dance Theatre Shanghai
Shanghai Tango

7:30 p.m. Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Eisenhower Auditorium

China's first independent contemporary dance company is the creation of an acclaimed dancer and choreographer born in China to ethnic Korean parents. Jin Xing earned accolades as her country's best dancer and by age 19 had moved to New York City to study with modern dance icons Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, and José Limón. She then performed with ensembles in Italy and Belgium. Following six years in the West, she returned to China. Shanghai Tango features ten pieces that mix East and West in dance, music, and costumes. A Chinese folk tale about a mother divided between husband and lover inspired the title piece. Shanghai Tango's sensual dance doesn't include tango, but the use of music by Astor Piazzolla lends a tango influence. Shanghai Tango provides a glimpse at contemporary Shanghai, a cosmopolitan city that melds cultures and passions.

sponsor
Penn State International Dance Ensemble Endowment

The 2012 national tour of the Jin Xing Dance Theatre Shanghai is part of a major, multi-year cultural exchange with Minneapolis-based Arts Midwest, the Chinese Ministry of Culture, and the United States Major University Presenters consortium. Support for the tour has been provided by the Ministry of Culture, People’s Republic of China.

The presentation of Jin Xing Dance Theatre Shanghai was made possible by the MetLife Community Connections Fund of the New England Foundation of the Arts’ National Dance Project. Major support for NDP is also provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Boeing Company Charitable Trust.

This performance is made possible, in part, with support from the Penn State Confucius Institute.