Peking Opera Soirée
November 6, 2019
Arts Court Theatre
2019 PROGRAM
The Jade Bracelet, featuring William Lau, Wei Meng and Laura Astwood
A Lonely Widow, featuring William Lau and Jin Wang
Erhu music by Patty Chan
IN THE LOBBY
a small Chinese opera costume exhibition as well as an art installation by Ottawa interdisciplinary artist Don Kwan.
THE PERFORMERS
Yeonji Hong is an award-winning Korean dance artist who received her PhD from the Sejong University in Seoul, South Korea in 2017. She has performed many classical repertoires such as “the Fan Dance”, “Taepyeongmu” and “Salpuri”. Dr. Hong was awarded the prestigious Presidential Award at the 22nd National Dance Festival in 2013. At the 28nd National University Dance Competition in 2010, she was awarded the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award for her solo work “Chungsan Gaja”. Dr. Hong combines traditional dance vocabularies with a modern perspective to express the deepest emotion and essence of beauty in Korean dance aesthetic. Since her arrival in Canada in 2018, she has performed in different venues across Ontario including Ottawa City Hall, Carleton Place in Lanark County, and the City of Brockville. She has also been teaching both dancing and drumming at the Korean Cultural Centre in Ottawa since 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhmXmqI9U1E&ab_channel=HongKoreanTraditionalDance_Y%3AEONDanceCompany
Eko Nurcahyo is a traditional dancer and choreographer who was born in Yogyakarta in Indonesia. He graduated from the Institute of Art, Indonesia Yogyakarta, majoring in art performance, with expertise in mask dance, Yogyakarta style. Prior to coming to Canada, he was involved in many overseas performances including the Asia Helsinki Festival, Mundial Festival Tilburg Netherlands and Gangneung Festival in South Korea. Currently, he works as an Indonesian traditional dance instructor and choreographer at the Embassy of Indonesia in Ottawa.
Justin Lui was born in Toronto and began dancing at age 13, learning Chinese classical and folk dance at Norman Dance Company. He has since trained in a variety of Chinese ethnic dances, classical ballet, and street dance styles. He has performed with the Little Pear Garden Dance Company under Artistic Director Emily Cheung and Toronto International Ballet Theatre under Artistic Director Tatiana Stepanova. Justin has a Master of Public Health degree from Western University and works as a program evaluator in the not-for-profit sector.
Kai Whitcomb is the Chairperson of the Council for Thai Culture Canada & the Director of Thai Dance Ottawa. Born in Bangkok, Thailand, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, married to Dr. Ed Whitcomb, immigrated to Canada, and founded the Thai Dance Ottawa in 1987. Kai has two daughters: Denise and Diana. Thai Dance Ottawa is one of the leading Thai performing arts groups in Canada. It is committed to the creation, development, and promotion of Thai classical and folk drama, music, and dance. The Troupe performed at numerous events in Ontario, Quebec, the USA, Italy, Trinidad, Jamaica, Indonesia, India, Myanmar, and Korea. Kai choreographed a 3-minute piece for Michael Jackson the Immortal World Tour 2011 with Cirque du Soleil. Kai is the first Asian-Canadian to win first prize in Step Dancing at the Stratford Step Dancing Competition. Kai is also the founder of the Thai Dance Troupe in Jakarta, New Delhi, Miami, and recently in Calgary.
