China Cultural Exchange Project

I was very fortunate to be a part of the China Cultural Exchange Project and a guest of the Cultural Ministry of China. David Fraher, Executive Director of Arts Midwest, and Kat Duvic, Executive & Program Assistant, who have been presenting and touring Chinese artists for many years, organized this trip. Over a ten-day period in December, seven major university presenters, myself included, traveled to Shanghai, Chengdu and Beijing. During this time, we were able to see over 150 artists perform and engage in dialogue about cultural exchange.

Our trip would not have been as wonderful if it were not for the advance work done by Cathy Barbash, an American consultant who decided 20 years ago to go and work in China. Her contacts and understanding of the art and culture of China made her an invaluable leader.
The artists were as varied as Tibetan throat singers to Chinese rock and roll bands to some of the finest and most highly trained ballet and modern dance companies. And for those of you who follow our Gammage Broadway season, you know that we will have THE 39 STEPS in April. I had the opportunity to see the Chinese version of THE 39 STEPS presented by the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center. It was equally as engaging and funny in Chinese as it was when I saw it on Broadway.

Mr. Wu, the Deputy Director of the Chinese Cultural Ministry, led our trip and we also met with the directors and deputy directors from Chengdu and Beijing. All were gracious and provided us with an insight into the traditions of China and the food, the sights and sounds of the cities we visited. It was quite amazing to be in a city of 20 million people and how everyone moved effortlessly about with grace and calm. It was even more astonishing to realize that these cites are twice the size of New York, which most Americans think of as a large, bustling city.

Highlights included a trip to the Expo in Beijing as everyone prepares for the world to return to China in 2010. The Chinese Pavilion is a large, red lacquer pagoda, which sits in the middle of all the nations’ astonishing pavilions. It was wonderful to hear traditional Chinese music performed in the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center and then to attend the Little Bar in Chengdu and hear the performance of Asura Band and rock out in Chengdu and then attend the Beijing Peking Opera Company and to watch maestros and third generation artists perform and to see the Uigur Union, three musicians perform traditional work and close out the evening with the Hanggai Band and the Huilang Band combining traditional and contemporary music. We saw a contemporary play RHINO IN LOVE by Meng Jinghui.

Our trip closed out with a formal luncheon by Ms. Li Hong, Deputy Director General for the Bureau of External Cultural Relations and a mad dash on the morning of my departure through the Forbidden City.

We will surely see some of these Chinese artists tour through the United States and look forward to welcoming them to ASU and Tempe, Arizona.

Prior to my trip to China, I had the opportunity to see some great plays on Broadway--Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig in A STEADY RAIN, Jude Law in HAMLET, Julia Stiles in OLEANNA, Sienna Miller in AFTER MISS JULIE and my personal favorite, SUPERIOR DONUTS, by Tracy Letts, who is the Tony Award winning playwright of AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, which opens on January 5 at ASU Gammage.