INFORMATION FOR
Members of the elite China National Opera and Dance Drama Theatre will perform selections from Princess Zhaojun at the Shea Center for Performing Arts at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J., on Tuesday, March 19 at 3 p.m. The performance is free and open to the public.
There will be three performance selections, including an introduction to the art of Chinese dancing, a Chinese folk dance, and a scene from Princess Zhaojun. Other activities will include an invitation to audience members to join cast members on stage to learn Chinese dancing, as well as a performance by William Paterson University jazz musicians who will play for Chinese cast members as they improvise a dance. There will also be a raffle for tickets to the New York City performances at Lincoln Center from March 21 to 24.
The performance includes dance, drama, opulent costumes and live traditional Chinese music. The deputy director of the China National Opera and the Dance Drama Theatre will intersperse the performance with commentary explaining the story and history of the performance.
The centuries-old story of Princess Zhaojun brings to life the real story of one of China's most important heroines, Wang Zhaojun, then an imperial concubine, who sacrifices her comfortable palace life to secure peace on the turbulent border of northern China.
The Chinese performers are among the best in China; their performance at William Paterson University will take place following a run in Boston and prior to multiple performances at Lincoln Center’s Koch Theatre in New York City. This production had its world premiere in 2016 and has since toured throughout China. In 2017, it performed in the National Auditorium of Mexico as a closing performance of “Year of Chinese Culture” in Mexico to wide acclaim.
The event is sponsored by the China Arts and Entertainment Group and William Paterson University. It is hosted by the William Paterson University Center for Chinese Art and presented by the China National Opera and Dance Drama Theatre.
For more information, please call William Paterson University’s Center for Chinese Art at 973.720.2799.
