The Dragon's Roar, a Chinese drum dance, kicked off the 9th
China Shanghai International Arts Festival at the Shanghai Grand
Theater on Thursday night.
The dance, an original work by the Chinese young dancers,
manifested the essence of the Chinese culture and the people's
aspiration for prosperity by interweaving drum in the dance as the
pronunciation of drum and dance means "encourage" in Chinese.
Just like the dance, the arts festival is oriented to being
original, innovative and conducive to promoting the cultural
exchanges with the world, said Chen Xiaoguang, vice minister of
culture at the festival's opening ceremony.
"The Shanghai Arts Festival has become a landmark event of
cultural exchanges. It plays an important role in leading an
innovative trend of Chinese cultural industries as well as the art
education," said Chen.
The month-long festival, to be held till November 18, will
feature 55 performances, including symphony orchestras, dances,
musicals and ballets from both home and abroad.
Dancers from St.
Petersburg, Russia, perform at Century Plaza in Nanjing Road E. as
part of the Shanghai International Arts Festival, which kicked off
on Thursdy, October 18, 2007. The first performance was the dance
drama "Sound of Dragon" at Shanghai Grand Theater last
night.
During the festival, at least 18 paintings and artifacts
exhibitions will be held. Local people will be able to enjoy the
famous paintings of Rembrandt and selected artifacts from Spain's
Prado Museums.
The artists will be invited to some piano and singing
competitions held in streets or schools so that ordinary people,
especially children, can participate and enjoy it, said
organizers.
Other activities include a piano concert by Grammy-winning
Chinese composer Tan Dun with his critically renowned paper and
water concertos and an e-arts festival on Friday.
Hosted by the Ministry of Culture and sponsored by Shanghai
Municipal Government, the China Shanghai International Arts
Festival has been serving as a cultural gala and an artistic
pageant bridging China and the world annually since 1999.
(Xinhua News Agency October 19, 2007)
