Lincoln Center in the Park

The Lincoln Center Local: Free Screenings series, which offers streams of programs from Lincoln Center’s growing digital content collection to libraries and community centers, including world-class performances from Live From Lincoln Center and other previous live events, has expanding to new venues and new locations this summer. The series is part of Lincoln Center Education’s mission to bring high quality resources and programming options to communities beyond Lincoln Center’s campus in Manhattan.

Free Screenings will be shown on an outdoor screen this summer at the Queens Theatre in Flushing Meadows Corona Park on each Tuesday in August at 8:00 p.m. Showings include Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street with Bryn Terfel, Emma Thompson and the New York Philharmonic on August 4, the Villalobos Brothers on August 11, Yo-Yo Ma with the New York Philharmonic (2013 Opening Night) on August 18, and the 2012 Richard Tucker Opera Gala featuring some of opera’s leading voices on August 25. In case of inclement weather, the screenings will be held at an indoor space at the Queens Theatre.

“At present, there are just over 30 options of past performance arts events that we offer in the Lincoln Center Local: Free Screenings series”, said Eric Gewirtz, Associate Director, Public Relations. “They range from classical, to world music, to theater, to jazz, and more. Queens Theatre is the only outdoor venue in New York City to present these events.”

Marketing Manager, Thibuld Courtois approached Lincoln Center Education for this project. “With several showings to choose from I selected these particular movies to portray the diversity of the borough”.  Violinists Villalobos Brothers, for instance, have been acclaimed as one of today’s leading Contemporary Mexican ensembles. Their original compositions and arrangements masterfully blend and celebrate the richness of Mexican folk music with the intricate harmonies of jazz and classical music.

“We will be setting up a 25’ x15’ screen on the festival lawn located behind the theatre and requesting that people bring chairs, blankets as well as their own picnic baskets”, Courtois remarked. “In case of inclement weather, the movies will be shown inside at the 472-seat theatre.” 

In addition screenings will take place in 19 new locations across the five boroughs of New York City. Details about screenings, locations, and times throughout the summer are available at LincolnCenter.org/Local and LincolnCenterEducation.org.

SHEN YUN AT LINCOLN CENTER

Amidst its eighth annual world tour, Shen Yun Performing Arts will return to Lincoln Center, at the David H. Koch Theater, in January, 2014, for a limited two-week run of performances. Shen Yun has sold out performances at the David H. Koch Theater for the past two seasons.

At the core of Shen Yun’s performance is classical Chinese dance with its explosive techniques, synchronized movements, and expressive powers. China’s numerous ethnic and folk dance styles round out the evening. In a collection of short pieces, audiences travel from the Himalayas to tropical lake-filled regions; from the legends of the culture's creation over 5,000 years ago to contemporary tales of courage; from the highest heavens down to the dusty plateaus of the Middle Kingdom.

The entire performance is accompanied by the Shen Yun Orchestra, which combines two of the world’s greatest classical music traditions, Chinese and Western. Ancient instruments like the soul-stirring erhu and the delicate pipa lead the melody on top of a full Western orchestra.

For me, this is a true experience for the entertainment senses.  It blew my mind!  Like nothing you've ever seen.  There will be only ten performances from  January 10 - 19, 2014, ending just a few weeks prior to the Chinese Lunar New Year.

For thousands of years, China was known as the Divine Land.  But under 60 years of communist rule, authentic Chinese culture, including traditional arts, have been almost lost. That is why you cannot see a performance like Shen Yun in China today.

Based in New York, Shen Yun is entirely non-profit. Its artists have come from around the world to revive this glorious heritage. Since its establishment in 2006, the company has become a global sensation, performing for over a million audience members across five continents around the world.

Featured is Queens resident Ms. Haolan Geng who has began studying music at the age of six, and is a graduate of the music department of the Guangdong Conservatory of Music. She went on to star with the Guangdong Provincial Opera, winning the gold medal (professional division) at the first music competition of the Guangdong Festival of Arts. In 2009, Ms. Geng earned gold medal honors at NTDTV’s third International Chinese Vocal Competition. She is currently a soloist with Shen Yun Performing Arts.

Ticket prices range from $80 to $300 available at www.ShenYun.com/NYC

ANN ON BROADWAY

A 1930’s looking auditorium preparing for graduation.  Old fashioned wood carved podium, school banners with one that reads, “The graduating class welcomes Governor Ann Richards”. Backdrop screen projection of 1988 Convention.  Ann Richards is introduced to a roaring crowd.  “Twelve years ago, Barbara Jordan, another Texas woman, made the keynote address to this convention, and two women in a hundred and sixty years is par for the course. But if you give us a chance, we can perform. After all, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, only backwards, and with high heels.”

This quip was one of many in the new Broadway show, Ann, both written and portrayed by Actor Holland Taylor.  Taylor, who did countless research and interviews, performs as she imagines Richard’s life to have been.   Truth be told, I had absolutely no clue to the background and concluded that Ann, not only holds for being a one-woman show but is probably the best non-musical of the season, let alone kudos for the comedy.

“Now there was a driving issue in Texas that will sound somewhat familiar, about whether or not children should be punished if they spoke Spanish in public schools. Ma (Texas’s first female governor) said, ‘if the English language was good enough for Jesus Christ, it is good enough for the school children of Texas’.”

She continues talking about her childhood, career and viewpoints. The phone rings and a second stage moves on replacing the scenario with an office.   A second voice is heard from a side office or intercom, but we never see another person.  At this point Ann is in her “Governor” stage as we now get a strong glimpse into her family and political career through phone calls and calling out to her secretary, Nancy (Julie White). 

We are then back to her talking about her life and after the four years in office. One of my favorites is, “If I got turned out after my concealed weapons veto, without which every Tom, Dick, and Harry could jus’ walk into your home or your place of business packing heat, then I say, ‘So be it’… Now I tole ‘em I might consider a law that lets guys carry guns hanging from a chain around their neck. That way we could say, ‘look out, he’s got a gun’. And the idea of women carrying a gun for protection? Give me a break, Gladys. 

There’s not a woman in Texas could find a gun in her purse. “

In her final speaking to the audience, Ann refers to the rest of her career, death and philosophy.   How much of this is Taylor’s own insight and philosophy is something to dwell on.   Two thumbs up and a big toe for Holland Taylor. 

Ann is being performed at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theatre.

SHEN YUN AT LINCOLN CENTER

Have you heard of the China known as “The Celestial Empire?” Ancient myths and legends throughout history record that the Middle Kingdom was continually guided by celestial beings. Traditional Chinese culture attributes all aspects of its civilization to the heavens, including its script, medicine, attire, music, and classical Chinese dance.

It is this tradition of divinely inspired culture that Shen Yun Performing Arts will be presented at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theatre April 18 to April 22. Shen Yun has toured the world for five seasons, sharing the beauty of this lost culture through classical Chinese dance.

Classical Chinese dance is one of the most comprehensive dance systems in the world. Dynasty after dynasty, it was passed down among the people, in imperial palaces and ancient plays. Thousands of years have refined it into a distinctive dance system embodying traditional aesthetics.

One of the strengths of classical Chinese dance is its expressivity. It can vividly depict a wide range of emotions and portray any cherished virtue— righteousness, loyalty, benevolence, and tolerance. It can be masculine and vigorous, soft and graceful, somber and stirring, playful and humorous.

Such range is achieved through bearing and form. Bearing describes the physical expression of one’s inner spirit. Spirit leads to movement, thus bearing leads to form.

Form refers to Chinese dance’s external appearance—hundreds of unique movements and postures. An accomplished performer makes them appear effortless, but they require a perfect coordination of the entire body that takes years of rigorous training. A dancer’s every cell—from toes to fingertips, from the angle of the head to the direction of the gaze—must be in perfect harmony.

Classical Chinese dance also has an extensive array of techniques—jumps, spins, flips, aerials and other very difficult tumbling moves. These supplement and enhance the dance’s expressive powers while adding vigorous physicality.

And yet, classical Chinese dance is still mostly unfamiliar to the West. But that is quickly changing. Shen Yun is the world’s premier Chinese music and dance company; promoting an authentic form of classical Chinese dance is part of its mission. Based in New York, Shen Yun is very different from companies coming out of China.

“With Shen Yun, we use classical Chinese dance in its purist form, we don’t mix in modern, contemporary, ballet, and other dance forms until you no longer know what you are watching,” says choreographer Vina Lee. “Authentic classical Chinese dance can really give the audience an uplifting experience of pure goodness and consummate beauty.”

And with 5,000 years of civilization to draw from, Shen Yun has plenty of source material. Through dance, Terracotta Warriors awaken from the dust, the Song Dynasty general Yue Fei comes to life, Monkey King and Pigsy escape another sticky situation, maidens grace a heavenly palace, drummers shake the yellow plateaus of the Middle Kingdom.

A renaissance of Chinese culture has begun and one of the world’s ultimate dance forms is blazing the path.

Okay, the above is what I wrote in the Queens Times and tonight I had the absolute pleasure of seeing the show. "Prepare to enter a magical world where the good and the righteous always prevail and where beauty and purity have never been lost".

I have to say that although I did appreciate the Chinese history and culture, what it really boiled down to it for me was the entertainment of it all beginning with the digital back drop...because it was just so impressive! I would see people on the digital screen and then they would approach. Just as the one or some would reach the raised platform, the actor(s) would jump up as if they came out from the screen. And then they did the same going back.

Screen dancers would approach from the side and then the dancers entered from the sides of the stage.



The dancers. It was a combination of mostly ballet and some martial arts when it came to the guys. The women were given much flower dancing. It was like watching bouquets of flowers being formed.

Each of the acts were introduced in English and Chinese They all ended in a photographic pose and all were stunningly colorful. The costumes were intricate with vivacious hues unto themselves.

At first I expected Shen Yun to have the performers simply dancing the night fantastic. Lo and behold, there were two singers, tenor Huan Xing and Soprano Haolan Geng.

Loved the orchestra. Both western and Chinese instruments and conducted by a woman!...Wen-Wen Chou. Loved the music!

It looks as though they have added another show here in NYC to extend the short run to Sunday, the 22nd. However, if you miss it in NYC, you may be able to catch it in another city in the U.S. For further information go to www.ShenYun2012.com/NYC