Lunar New Year Dance Exhibition
East Meets West International Dance and Music Festival

Artistic Director's Note

Welcome to the Lunar New Year celebration at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts. We invite you to view our virtual exhibition featuring the East Meets West International Dance and Music Festival.

For the celebration, we offer a glimpse of past “East Meets West” performances, which showcase regional and international performing artists. The performers who participated in these events represented China, Japan, India, Malaysia, India and the United States. It has been our great pleasure to work with collaborators from around the world and to present them at UCI. We hope their exceptional talent and creativity will inspire you as much as it has inspired us.

Our Founding Membership Chair, Ruth Ding, has given tirelessly of her time, energy, and wisdom to support this project. As Ruth shared with us, “we need more beauty and love in this world, less conflict and war,” and so her efforts have resulted in many new dance and music lovers joining us today. We also give our heartfelt thanks to Charlie Zhang, who has generously supported this project since 2016, our first annual East Meets West International Dance Festival. Without Charlie Zhang’s generous contributions, we would not have been able to host these events, so we are forever grateful.

On behalf of everyone in the Department of Dance, the Claire Trevor School of the Arts, and all the performers – thank you for viewing our virtual exhibition and enjoy the New Year celebration!

Sincerely,
Tong Wang and Lisa Naugle
Artistic Directors

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View the performance program from the 2019 East Meets West International Dance and Music Festival.
Performances were recorded in 2019 and made public for viewing in 2021.

Images by Jerry Li Photography

Ceremony of Qin’s Army

Ceremony of Qin’s Army. Presented by Beijing Dance Academy. This dance is showcasing the elements from the restoration of the original grand performances in China’s Qin Dynasty’s (620 AD) imperial ceremonies where army’s victory is being celebrated. Choreographer: Ying Sun; Restaged by Siwei Ou; Dancers: Qi Gao, Yuanli Wang, Zhe Xu

Fujimusume (Wisteria Maiden)

Fujimusume (Wisteria Maiden). Presented by Wakahisakai Japanese Dance Group. Composed and choreographed in the early 1800s in Japan within the Kabuki drama, this piece is suggestive of two lovers much like the wisteria branch entwined around the wisteria tree. Choreographer: Kichisanji Wakayagi; Restaged by Wakayagi School; Composer: anonymous; Performing Artist: Rinsen Wakayagi

SEA…The Other Side

SEA…The Other Side. Presented by UCI Department of Dance. Choreographer and dancer: Sukanya Kumar; Composer: A R Rahman; Costume designer: Sukanya Kumar

Lone Crane

Lone Crane. Presented by Beijing Dance Academy. Choreographers: Weijia Xia, Shengfeng Wang; Restaged by Siwei Ou; Composer: Xing Liu; Costume Designer: Zhikuan Zheng; Dancer: Teng Huang

Jing Hu, musician

Mr. Shunxiang Zhang, Jing Hu musician. Heavenly Bliss and Gate to the Grand Mansion. Original works by Mr. Shunxiang Zhang

Blossom

Blossom. Presented by UCI Department of Dance. Choreographers: Anthony Meh and Aman Yap. Copyright held by Malaysian Dua Space Dance Theatre. Restaged by Radhanath Thialan. Composer: Vanessa-Mae; Costume Designer: Anthony Meh; Dancers: Aoi Aihara, Rogelio Cervantes, João Ducci, Katie Huang, Sydney Leong, Katie Lynch, Lenard Glenn Malunes, Leo Nishimura

East Meets West 2018: International Dance Festival

UCI Dance presents East Meets West 2018: International Dance Festival. Lisa Naugle and Tong Wang, Artistic Directors. November 3, 2018, Irvine Barclay Theatre. Second Act of the 2018 Showcase, view the video link for the list of performances and credits.

EMW Donors

We would like to thank our sponsors and donors for their generous support and commitment to making these performance possible. All proceeds from “East Meets West” support our professional educational opportunities, community outreach, and the production of global art and culture activities. (Read the full list through the link above.)