minorities OCTOBER 17 – 27
Marilyn and Charles Baillie Theatre CONCEPT AND CHOREOGRAPHY
YANG ZHEN 杨朕 MUSIC AND PHOTOGRAPHY
QI RAY 齐蕊 YANG ZHEN 杨朕 DANCERS
LOU HIO MEI 卢晓薇 (MACAO) MA XIAO LING 马晓 玲 (CHINESE KOREAN) AODONGGAOWA 敖东高娃 (MONGOLIAN) GAN LUYANGZI 甘露 杨子 (TIBETAN) GUZHANUER YUSUFU 古扎努尔玉素甫 (UYGHUR) SINGER
HUANG PING 黄萍 TECHNICAL DIRECTOR
LIU HENGZHI 刘恒 志 ANIMATIONS AND VIDEO
ZHANG YONGJI 张永基 TOUR MANAGER
JINGXIAN LI 李静贤 AGENT
MENNO PLUKKER 门诺普鲁克 MINORITIES was co-produced by the Dance2017 Festival in Munich, Germany and by the Taipei Arts Festival 2017. Red Virgo is represented by Menno Plukker Theatre Agency, Inc.
PRESENTS SEASON SPONSOR
A RED VIRGO PRODUCTION FROM BEIJING PRESENTED BY CANADIAN STAGE
Minorities is the third installment of the Revolution Game Trilogy by choreographer Yang Zhen from Beijing, China. The first, Just Go Forward, was created in 2014 and dealt with the situation of women in contemporary Chinese society when the “One-Child Policy” was ended, allowing women to have two children. The second, created in 2015, was In the Field of Hope, which focused on the hopes and ambitions of young people living in Mainland China. In Minorities, Yang highlights the social circumstances of a new generation of ethnic minorities in China. With an all-female cast featuring dancers and performers from the Tibetan region, Inner Mongolia, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and Macao, as well as a Korean-Chinese dancer and an opera singer from Hunan Province, Yang explores the constant conflict between social prejudice and individual consciousness – how one can express oneself and relate to the world in which they live – and examines how minority identities in China fit, or don’t fit, in the narrative of a harmonious One China. Combining folk and contemporary dance, theatre, animation, a heart-pounding rock score interspersed with folkloric music, documentary material from Yang’s extensive travel experiences, and the performer’s memories, Minorities is an atmospheric yet playful work of theatre. In May 2019, Delta, a new theatre/dance piece by Yang Zhen premiered in Munich at the DANCE2019 Festival. Delta is a reflection on the Pearl River Delta and the three cities Guangzhou, Macao and Hong Kong. In September 2019, Yang Zhen premiered Destination in Germany. A dance piece about gender and the different perspectives from the Eastern and Western world, Destination features 4 dancers, including Yang Zhen.
THIS PRODUCTION RUNS APPROXIMATELY 75 MINUTES WITH NO INTERMISSION
CAST & CREATIVE
AODONGGAOWA
YANG ZHEN
LOU HIO MEI
MA XIAO LING
GAN LUYANGZI
GUZHANUER YUSUFU
HUANG PING
YANG ZHEN
AODONGGAOWA
Yang Zhen obtained his bachelor’s degree in Choreography at Minzu University of China in Beijing. As an independent choreographer he has presented his productions at prestigious festivals in China and abroad, including at Julidans in Amsterdam, the Taipei Arts Festival in Taiwan, The Beijing Dance Festival, the Guangdong Dance Festival and at China Dance Forward 2014 in Hong Kong. In Germany, he presented his work in 2015, 2017 and in 2019 at the Festival DANCE in Munich. On May 12, 2017, Minorities had its world premiere in Munich, followed by a tour to Heilbronn, Gießen, Münster and a year later to Freiburg-im-Breisgau.
Aodonggaowa, is from Inner Mongolia and graduated from the Arts College of Inner Mongolia University. After graduation, she established an arts and cultural brand named You Mu. She is also a director and choreographer for events and conferences.
LOU HIO MEI Lou Hio Mei, is a citizen of Macao S.A.R. A graduate of the Beijing Dance Academy, she is now based in Macao and works as an independent choreographer and dancer. She is very interested in issues of self-identity and social identity and likes to work with different types of artists who inspire her to further explore her own art.
MA XIAO LING Ma Xiao Ling, is Chinese Korean. She graduated from the Dance College of Minzu University of China. Now based in Beijing, she teaches traditional Korean dance for dancers and non-professional performers. She is also a choreographer and has achieved impressive results in major dance competitions in China.
GAN LUYANGZI Gan Luyangzi is from Tibet and has been invited to play important roles in many Grand Ethnic Dance Pieces. Now based in Gansu, she is now an independent dancer and model.
GUZHANUER YUSUFU Guzhanuer Yusufu is from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. A graduate of the dance department at the Xinjiang Art Institute, she worked at SanShi Culture Communication as an assistant of the producer director. While earning her masters degree in theatre from California State University Northridge, she worked as a dancer, choregrapher and director. She is currently working on her graduate project “Tags,” which uses the artistic expression of dark comedy to reflects problems in today’s society.
HUANG PING Huang Ping is from Hubei Province. When she was young she began to study dance. During the Cultural Revolution in 1976 she participated in the performance of revolutionary operas. Since then, she has been engaged as a singer in operas. Although now retired, she still loves stage performances and actively participates in folklore opera.
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