Abingdonian 2017

20 The Abingdonian Lent 2017 Chinese Theatre Trip On Friday 20 January, around 40 third and fourth year students studying Chinese, teachers and parents travelled to Reading to see the Chinese New Year Spring Festival Gala, which is performed by 22 professional artists from the Jiangsu Province Department of Culture. For many people this was an unforgettable experience and I am sure that everyone had a great time. It was the first of a series of events to celebrate the Chinese New Year, which this year is the Year of the Rooster. The Gala included acrobatics, dances, folk songs, a Peking Opera and some traditional Chinese music played with traditional Chinese instruments, all of which can be traced way back to the ancient Tang and Song Dynasties. The evening started with a song and dance tune which is supposed to reflect changes in the Chinese culture and to match the people of China’s spirits in a passionate way. The next act involved some traditional Chinese instruments being played and is performed by four Chinese musicians. There was a yangqin (keyboard), a dizi (flute), a pipa (guitar) and an erhu (violin). They played two tunes – the first one was a Chinese tune called Xi Yang Yang ( Beaming with Joy ) with is a famous piece of folk music with a joyful and light melody to it. The second tune was English and was the tune Green Sleeves, which is an English love song with a classical tune but includes an elegant melody with sadness. The third act was performed by some lively acrobats, which was spectacular. The act was done by two men performing stunts and backflips over each other while throwing straw hats up in the air and trying to catch them. The act was extremely impressive and one of the best performances of the whole show. The fourth and fifth acts were a dance and a female solo song. The dance was about the area located to the south of the Yangtze River called the Jiangnan region. The Chinese poems that were sung in the background of the dance reflected the quiet and refined lives and the scenic views including the lotus flowers, gentle and delicate music and various dances.