From: Equator Festival [events_at_equatorfestival_dot_com]
Sent: 08 June 2016 13:36
Subject: Equator 2016 - Ashford events - children go free !
Children go
free at all Ashford events - please see below for details.
Sat
June 18th - Far East of Whitstable - a day of Chinese dance, music, calligraphy,
opera face-painting and Tai-chi, from 1.30pm
For
tickets details and timings please go to www.equatorfestival.com
Sat
June 18th
- Horsebridge Centre, 11 Horsebridge Road, Whitstable CT5 1AF
A day of spectacular Chinese dance, music, calligraphy and Chinese opera
face-painting and Tai-Chi, before enjoying a stunning show of dance and music
from the Sinman Chinese artists.
1.30pm
- 2.30pm: Chinese opera face-painting (?3)
Beijing Opera Mask is a pattern of putting on facial make up for opera actors
and actresses, enabling the audience to get a glimpse of the inner world of the
each role. Different color represents different roles in the play. For example:
Red indicates devotion, courage bravery, uprightness and loyalty. Black
symbolizes roughness and fierceness. Yellow signifies fierceness, ambition and
cool-headedness. We will try to demonstrate few main role masks on
participants.
3- 4pm: Chinese calligraphy workshop (?5)
It's the art of writing in traditional China using special brush and ink. You
will have an opportunity to learn this writing technique as well as some simple
Chinese characters.
4.30pm
- 5.30pm: Chinese dance workshop (free with ticket to the main event)
Long Fan dance is a traditional folk and festive dance in mainland China. The
colourful long fan gives the dance cheerful and graceful feel. The workshop
participants will join our dance using this beautiful prop.
5.30-6.30 pm : Tai Chi Taster class (?5 ticket)
7pm
- 8pm: Sinman Dance Company performance
Sinman Dance Company aims to promote and develop Chinese dance and
culture in the UK through performances and activity workshops. We are delighted
to provide you this unique cultural experience with Chinese arts. Come and
enjoy our colourful display of Chinese traditional dance and music from
different regions of China.
About the Sinman Dance Company
Sinman Dance Company was formed in June 2002. The Company aims to
promote and develop Chinese dance and culture in the UK through public
performances and activity workshops. Sinman Dance is an artist led company in
which the work is planned, produced and delivered by our artists. The Company's
core members are professionally trained performing artists from China, Hong
Kong & Taiwan who are all currently based in the UK. Together, we have built
a healthy portfolio of work through past projects and events.
Artistically, we made our debut performance at The Place Theatre. The unique
style of this debut project brought us more opportunities in the following
years. Our choreographic commissions include The Third Sex, Talking Feather,
Fire of Hope and many more; these pieces have been presented by some major
events and venues such as French company Les Passagers at O2 arena, ROH2 New
Currents at the Royal Opera House, East London Dance at Stratford Circus, Queen
Elizabeth Hall, Dance City in Newcastle and Barking Broadway Theatre etc?
Education and community work are significant for us to fulfil our aim. We
constantly provide high quality work for schools, libraries, universities and
museums in order to reach a wider audience. Some of the projects were carried
out through collaborations with other organisations like Museum of London,
British Museum, Chinese Cultural Centre, Yellow Earth Theatre and Cultural
Co-operation. We also initiate our own ideas and educational projects in the
past by receiving project funding from Arts Council England as well as Awards
For All from the Lottery Fund.
The most recent high profile projects are:
- 2012 Lord Mayor Show
- China Late educational programme
at British Museum from 2007-2008
- Community project for Beijing
Olympic Torch Relay at British Museum and O2 in London
- BBC Silk Screen 2008 in
Birmingham, an outdoor event working with the local community.
- The annual school tours, to
celebrate the Chinese New Year in schools with Chinese dance and other
traditional
performances and workshops.
Sin Man Yue Was born in China and raised in Hong Kong. Her
professional training took place at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
and London Contemporary Dance School. Since graduating in 1990, she has
worked with Bi Ma Dance Co., Janet Smith and Dancers, Claire Russ Ensemble and
Victoria Marks etc... Sin Man also works intensively in cultural
performances and workshops throughout the UK and collaborates with different
arts organisations on their education programmes, e.g. Pan Centre for
Multicultural, Museums, Cultural Co-operation and Chinese Cultural Centre.
Sinman Dance Company was formed in June 2002. The aim of the company
is to continually promote and develop Chinese dance in UK through public
performances and activity workshops. In addition, the company attempts to meet
the new creative challenges of the East and West cultures by further exploring
and developing the aesthetic and expressive potential of Chinese dance and the
incorporation of contemporary dance elements. Her choreographic
commissions have included Resolution! at The Place, ROH2 new;currents at the
Royal Opera House, Re:Mission at Stratford Circus; Dance City; London Beijing
Torch Relay; BBC's Silk Screen at Birmingham; French company Les Passagers at
O2 arena and Lord Mayor Show etc...
QIU
ZENGHUI
Qiu Zenghui is a highly versatile Chinese musician, with over 25 years
experience playing a wide range of Chinese music, including Beijing Opera,
Chinese classical music and folk music. She is a graduate in instrumental
music from the Tianjin Opera School and the China National Beijing Opera
College. After graduation she performed in the national Beijing Opera
Company for nearly ten years, and then worked for the re-established Mei
Lanfang Opera Troupe from 1996 to 1999. Since moving to Britain in 1999,
she has performed on many occasions, at places including the Queen Elizabeth
Hall and Birmingham Symphony Hall. She has taught at SOAS, University of
London, and has given workshops at numerous schools and other organisations
around the country. She plays a wide variety of Chinese instruments,
including jinghu (bamboo fiddle), erhu (two-string Chinese fiddle), yueqin
(moon lute), dizi (bamboo flute), suona (Chinese oboe), guzheng (Chinese
zither), zhongruan (base lute) and percussion.
Sat June 25th from 5pm - Red with Indian dance and music
Centrepiece Church Hall, Bank Street, Ashford TN23 1BA
tickets; ?10, children free. Available from Eventbrite. Booking
fee will apply.
Please go to www.equatorfestival.com or https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/red-with-indian-dance-and-music-tickets-24651469208
Indian dance workshop 5 - 6pm
Learn some authentic Bollywood dance moves from dancers Ash and Kali (from
Bombay Dreams and Kirov Ballet) part of the music and dance company ShivaNova.
Indian drum workshop 6 - 7pm
Indian drumming - A taster on Indian drums learning some of the rhythm circles
and interesting Indian folk and classical drum patterns.
Red - 7.30 - 9 pm
Ash and Kali from ShivaNova perform a mix of Indian dance, Bollywood and Latin
to a range of music from contemporary to traditional Indian. Ash and Kali are
two of the most skilled and virtuoso dancers in the UK. Also featured will be
Indian drumming in a spectacular ?question-answer' session with dancers.
About Red
Ash - A Time Out London's Rising Talent and Critics' Circle National
Dance Awards UK nominee, Ash has been hailed as the Best Indian dancer in Great
Britain today by Dance Europe.
In a recent survey conducted by Wiki Answers on the top twenty best male
dancers in the world, Ash is the only representative of temple dance and
appears along side his childhood idols, Rudolph Nureyev and Fred Astaire.
Tipped as one of the most unique and cutting edge choreographers emerging from
the UK dance scene today, Ash was hand picked by the production team behind
This Is It! to create a short temple dance solo and represent India Michael
Jackson's O2 shows.
A versatile dance maker with an intuitive grasp on popular culture, Ash brings
a fresh new take on artistic collaboration, most notably in his recent work
with the acclaimed director Kevin Godley, in creating the striking imagery
behind the music video of the Katie Melua/William Orbit hit single, The Flood
and his choreographic piece for the one of the hottest international dance
shows on television So You Think You Can Dance 2 UK on BBC1 television.
"Mukherjee's solos are works of art. There is no greater Indian dancer in Great
Britain.
The speed with which he moves across the floor and the fluency of his poetic
arms are for anyone who wishes to appreciate outstanding dancing." - Mike
Dixon, Dance Europe
Kali - a powerful dancer, his lyrical and flexible upper body, drawing
on both Odissi and western contemporary demonstrated an affinity with the
varied qualities of the jazz clarinet, while his lower body strength aligned
with the rhythmic pulse", Pulse (autumn 2004)
"Lasya was powerful and different giving the audience a lot of drama and
incident", Head of Dance, Royal Festival Hall.
"As inventive with his title as he is with his choreography. ?Trandisionale'
speaks of transcending traditions and nationality, this work was outstanding.
Kali, in his ?creative dance avatar', was able to display the dignity of
evolved forms in a striking setting. The grace of Bharata Natyam and Odissi
blended effortlessly, via Shankaresque fusion, into more sexually charged
styles of Flamenco, Tango and informal social dance", Narthaki.com
Sat
July 16th from 5.30pm, U'Zambezi - South African songs and dances
Wye Village Hall, Bridge Street, Wye, Ashford TN25 5EA
tickets;
?9.50 advanced, ?11 (on the door), children free. Available from
Eventbrite.
You
can bring a picnic or food (no drinks) as some of the events may be in the
garden if the weather is good. There will be a Bar to purchase soft drinks and
wine/ beer.
Please go to www.equatorfestival.com or https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/uzambezi-south-african-songs-and-dances-tickets-24959525613
U'Zambezi Arts specialises in songs, drum rhythms, dances and
instrumental music styles from the Southern African region. The musicians are
self-taught, multi-talented artists whose work has taken them into Canada, the
USA, Europe including the UK, and all across southern Africa.
They have performed at some of the world's most prestigious venues over the
past 18 years, such as the Winter Gardens in Toronto, Symphony Space in New
York, JFK Centre in Washington DC, Opera de Paris, the Liverpool Philharmonic
Hall, and Ronnie Scott's Club in London.
U'Zambezi has shared stages with reggae musician Jimmy Cliff and English
singer-songwriter Peter Gabriel, and performed for dignitaries such as Nelson
Mandela and Queen Elizabeth II. They have appeared on TV programmes including
Blue Peter, Later with Jools Holland, and on prime time City TV-Toronto.
5.30pm: African Dance Workshop
Free with ticket to the main show.
Participants will have a chance to learn traditional dances from southern
Africa including the famous Gumboot dance which will be demonstrated here.
6.15pm: African Drumming Workshop
Free with ticket to the main show.
A hand-on session learning and playing southern African drum patterns and
rhythms.
7.30pm - main show
Website - www.equatorfestival.com
email: events_at_equatorfestival_dot_com
www.kingsplace.co.uk/equatorWOW
www.shivanova.com
www.wow-womenoftheworld.com
Equator and Equator's WOW-Women of the World are promotional arms of ShivaNova.
Twitter: _at_EquatorFestival
Twitter: WOW-WomenoftheWorld
Facebook: EquatorFestival
music
Facebook: WOW
- Women of the World Festival
Notes
to Editors:
The Equator Festival is a world music and dance festival produced
by ShivaNova. ShivaNova is a cutting-edge arts organisation with an
international reputation, specialising in music. Shiva Nova is an ensemble
of musicians from around the world, who blend urban and folk, jazz and ambient
sounds with influences from Indian, African, Caribbean and Western music.
ShivaNova celebrates cultural diversity through music as well as through other
art-forms including storytelling, dance, visual art and projection, circus and
theatre. EQUATOR FESTIVAL was set up by ShivaNova in 2007 as a
promotional arm of the company. It promotes and tours high quality
international world musicians and dancers from all over the world in its series
of concerts and events in London as well as in areas of Kent. Venues and
regions it is promoting include Royal Festival Hall, RichMix in London,
Chatham, Sevenoaks, Folkestone, Whitstable, Faversham and Ashford in
Kent. Shiva Nova is led by Priti Paintal, a woman composer, performer, music
producer and promoter. Her music brings together traditional, classical and
jazz performers in a unique mix of Indian roots and contemporary flair.
ShivaNova has worked with girls and young woman from a range of communities and
in 2006 set up the Girls Only Global Orchestra (GoGo) when the idea of the
Equator -Women of the World Festival (WOW) was also born.
ShivaNova/Equator has been awarded Strategic Touring Funds from Arts Council
Lottery Funding and works with many partners and arts organisations to promote
culturally diverse work and seeks to extend its touring and promotional
activities in Kent and London including Ashford, Chatham, Folkestone, Margate,
Rye, Sevenoaks, and Whitstable.