EDT Blogs
EDT Dancers Compete in China
October 2003
By Blanka Brichta and Jan Morse, EDT Dancers
In October 2003 we were participants in a world premier international dance festival and competition held in the city of Jiangdu, China. We performed three "fad" dances from the 1920's—Varsity Drag, Black Bottom and Charleston—to original jazz recordings from that era. The suite was choreographed by Lance Benishek, an internationally recognized expert on American dance (and a former EDT dancer who appeared most recently in EDT's The American Show).
The invitation to the festival was graciously offered by the festival committee through Ms. Tian Jiang Cui, the Artistic Director of the Minnesota Chinese Dance Theatre. Ms. Cui has worked with EDT many times over the years and is credited for setting the Chinese classic "Red Ribbon Dance," an audience favorite, for EDT in 1991.
The festival judges and the audience of nearly 3,000 people enjoyed our performances; we were awarded third place behind Brazil and Russia out of an overall festival competition of 14 groups.
We also had the good fortune to meet Shi Dali, one of the competition judges, who holds a prestigious position as the president of the Chinese Dancers Association at the Chinese Ministry of Culture. She is influential in promulgating and preserving dance as an art form as a valuable part of Chinese traditions.
We consider the Chinese experience a trip of a lifetime and are very grateful for the wonderful and unique memories we have.
Back to main blog page.
Blog posts:
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Period Dress and Culture of Theatre-Going c. 1913
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Did you know? Concert Factoids:*
Mumbai
The Gateway to India
Mumbai is one of the most populous cities in the world. It was built across seven islands & was controlled by various empires before the arrival of the first Europeans, the Portuguese. Control ultimately passed to the British who, beginning in the late 18th century, reshaped the city in a series of large-scale civil engineering projects. Under British control, Mumbai emerged as India’s most important center of commerce. Today, it is home to such institutions as the Reserve Bank of India & the National Stock Exchange of India, as well as numerous Indian and multinational corporations. In 1885 the first session of the Indian National Congress ("the Congress Party") was held in Mumbai, and in the 20th century Mumbai was a strong base of support for the Indian independence movement. The city is also the home of Bollywood, India’s film and TV industry. See our Indian suite in PORTS of CALL!
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