ST. LOUIS,
MO. - The 1904 World's Fair held in St. Louis one hundred years ago brought the world to our city and lay down a template of how we see ourselves and the world around us. The Chinese government made its first official participation to the World's Fair in St. Louis. It was a grand occasion and an important part of St. Louis history, which stays with us to this day. But it was also an occasion marked by destructive racism, stereotyping and outright cruelty. Many legitimate merchants representing China were harassed or detained in San Francisco. Merchants had to post five hundred dollars' worth of gold in bond and had to report to authority every 48 hours, minutely detailing their activities.
One hundred years later, the St. Louis community has made tremendous advancement in racial equality, social justices, and community development. The St. Louis Chinese American community desires to celebrate the centennial of the 1904 World's Fair and the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase by bringing the best of Chinese Song and Dance Ensemble to St. Louis for two incredible shows that take audiences on a two-hour journey to the ancient times of Chinese dynasties.
The Shanghai Song and Dance Ensemble is China's premier dance company, which was hand-picked by the president of China, Mr. Jiang Zemin, to accompany him for the State visit to the United States of American in 2002. The dance company only performed in 5 cities for private audiences only. This is truly once of a lifetime event for St. Louis.
The audiences will not only be thrilled by this grand scale epic performance, but that they will have a unique opportunity to discover the essence of all cultures through the Shanghai Song and Dance Ensemble. The primer performers of China present the grand sweep of Chinese history, tragedy and triumph under the dynasties of Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing. Hundreds of costumes and virtuoso dance and dramatic performance come together to give a true sense of China's diversity, the value of that diversity and the harmony we are looking for in St. Louis and around the world, now more than ever.
TIME Asia says that the show "takes the best of various traditional Chinese genres - martial arts, Beijing opera and acrobatic shows, and it blends them together to create a new action packed contemporary Chinese dance that is in tune with today's Crouching Tiger- influenced audiences."
Two limited engagements are booked for St. Louis on Saturday, August 14, 8:00 pm and Sunday, August 15, 2:00 pm. The selected venue is the brand new, beautiful, and state-of-the-art Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center in the campus of the University of Missouri, St. Louis (UMSL). Ticket prices are: VIP w/Reception: $100, Parterre/Orchestra level: $50/$35, Dress Circle: $30, and Grand Tier: $25. Tickets can be ordered by phone at the UMSL box office 314-516-4949 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm or call St. Louis Chinese American News (SCANews.com) at 314-432-3858, e-mail editor@scanews.com.
Founded in 1973, the Organization of Chinese Americans, St. Louis (OCA, STL) is dedicated to fight bigotry and develop our citizens to be productive members of our society. OCA, STL has been planning and organizing the "Echoes of Ancient Times" performance for more than two years. Visit the show website www.non-stopcreativity.com, or OCA, STL website
www.oca-stl.org.
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