Nai-Ni Chen Troupe presents Chinese dance program
by
John Koster
October 3, 2012
Ridgewood residents who took time away from the street fair and the beautiful
weather to visit the Ridgewood Library were glad they saw Nai-Ni Chen’s Dance
Company perform exquisite samples of Chinese dances to a good-sized audience at
the auditorium. The audience was instantly impressed by the beauty of the
performance and costumes.
Dance soloist Ying Shi of Beijing captivated the audience with the
classical Chinese Ribbon Dance. She used two colorful scarves and graceful
gestures and facial expressions to take the audience through both happy and
stormy emotions in pantomime as the scarves became arching rainbows, simmering
waves, and -- in Ying Shi’s skilled hands -- spirals and enveloping helixes.
Yao Zhong Zhang from Shanghai strode forth in
fierce warrior makeup for a bold performance of the Long Spear Dance, a
combination of ballet and the martial arts. He radiated strength and gymnastic
skill, performing leaps and spins with his spear while clad in an archaic
warrior costume and headdress.
Shi then returned with the Water Lily Dance. Nai-Ni Chen, the
award-winning troupe leader, explained that, in Chinese allusion, a water lily
can stand for a lovely girl. Shi began her dance as a mundane flat yellow-green
lily pad from a pond, but emerged as a glorious pink blossom and took the
responsive audience through a day in the life of a gorgeous water lily from
dawn to dusk. The recorded dance music was punctuated with amusing drips and
gurgles that suggested the pond life around the lily.
Besides acting as narrator,
Chen ultimately opened up the stage to a dozen pre-teen volunteers who wanted
to learn something about how the dances were done.
First Chen taught the adults and children about the hand gestures: the
“orchid hand” for girls means touching the pinkie and thumb while the three
middle fingers remain separate and the wrist rotates. The “tiger hand” for boys
means holding all four fingers together straight out with the thumb
perpendicular. The real fun for the youngsters came when they climbed onto
stage and learned, watching the taut, muscular Zhang how to swirl the ribbons
into the rainbow, the ocean wave, and the waterfall.
“We got 90 people out,
despite all the conflicts,” said Ridgewood Library Business Manager Toni
Mathes. “People loved them, and I thought it was a great way to reflect the
diverse cultures of Ridgewood.” About half the
audience was of European ancestry, and the other half was Asian. Applause was
warm and sustained. Link to Full Article: http://www.villadom.com/VTNews/2012/Z2/Oct/1003/7.html
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