Shen Wei Dance Arts and Pianist Di Wu featured in
Destination China Series

February 10, 2010

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The exhilarating Shen Wei Dance Arts will perform on Feb. 13, 2010, as part of Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts’ Destination China series.
Courtesy Photo/Lois Greenfield

SCOTTSDALE – As part of its Destination China series, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts will present pianist Di Wu on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 7:30 p.m. and Shen Wei Dance Arts on Saturday, Feb. 13, at 8 p.m.

Tickets for both Di Wu’s concert ($24) and Shen Wei Dance Arts’ performance ($47) are available online at www.ScottsdalePerformingArts.org or through the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts’ box office at 480-994-ARTS (2787).

Recently singled out by Musical America as a young artist to watch, Di Wu was a finalist at the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009, where she earned widespread praise for her inspired performance. Her program will include Granados’ Goyescas; Schoenberg’s Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19; Prokofiev’s Piano Sonata No. 2 in D minor, Op. 14; and Debussy’s Preludes, Book 2.

Shen Wei Dance Arts captivated the world with its imaginative performance at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Under the visionary leadership of Artistic Director Shen Wei, this dynamic young company melds modern dance with theater, Chinese opera, philosophy, art and architecture.

Shen Wei Dance Arts will mark its Scottsdale debut performing selections from The Re- Triptych, including Part I: Tibet, a deeply personal and spiritual dance incorporating traditional Tibetan chants and a stunning, full-stage mandala, and Part III: The New Silk Road, a celebration of China’s vast and divergent religious traditions, languages and cultural histories.

The Shen Wei Dance Arts performance also will include a lecture (free with ticket purchase) by Alison M. Friedman at 7 p.m. Currently an arts-management fellow at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., Friedman is the leading expert on modern dance in China and, from 2005 to 2008, served as international director of the Beijing Modern Dance Company. She will discuss the current situation of modern dance in China in the context of domestic economic forces and market pressures from abroad, as well as issues of individual expression and artists’ search for a ‘modern Chinese’ identity/voice.

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. Second St., Scottsdale, AZ 85251. Visit www.scottsdaleperformingarts.org. E-mail: [email protected].