QINGMING RIVERSIDE Comes to Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, 1/4-5

Inspired by the most important scroll painting in Chinese art history – Along the River during the Qingming Festival, the Hong Kong Dance Company's (HKDC) epic dance spectacle QINGMING RIVERSIDE animates the masterpiece and brings to life a prosperous era of Chinese history. Painted between AD 1119 and 1125, Along the River during the Qingming Festival is a masterpiece by the imperial court painter Zhang Zeduan. The scroll painting reveals, in astounding detail, the busy and booming streets of the Northern Song Dynasty capital, Bianjing (now Kaifeng, Henan) and is currenlty in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing.

The dance drama depicts life in the capital of Northern Song dynasty (AD 960–1127) in the early 12th century in broad painterly impressions, inviting the audience to travel through time to the dynamic city on the Bian Canal, and salute the long and profound history of Chinese culture through contemporary expressions. A thousand-year-old painting, with 800-plus characters depicted, comes to life through the language of dance, pushing the boundaries of both ethnic and classical dance, creating a new Chinese dance aesthetic.

Featuring more than 40 dancers, the award-winning QINGMING RIVERSIDE has dazzled more than 30,000 audience members since its premiere in 2007. The show has since been invited to perform at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2010 Shanghai Expo.

SONY CENTRE FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS, Toronto's first performing arts centre, has played a defining role in the cultural life of Toronto for more than 50 years. Today, the newly renovated Sony Centre's mission is to unite the global citizens of Toronto through great artistic experiences. In addition, the Sony Centre is dedicated to developing Toronto's younger audiences through family programming, workshops targeted towards school-aged audiences, an under-30 membership program, and other community initiatives.