Shanghai Dance Theatre to Present American Premiere of SOARING WINGS at Lincoln Center

China Arts and Entertainment Group (CAEG) will present the New York premiere of the Shanghai Dance Theatre (SDT) and their production of Soaring Wings, a new dance drama about "the bird of good fortune" -the crested ibis, and the interdependence between human beings and nature.

The production will play the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for 3 performances only, January 5-7, 2018. The story, focusing on issues of environmental protection for these international preserved rare bird species, is written by Luo Huaizhen, composed by Guo Sida and directed and choreographed by Tong Ruirui.

Soaring Wings is a part of CAEG's Image China cultural exchange initiative, which seeks to introduce traditional and contemporary Chinese performing arts to audiences around the world. Since its inception in 2009, Image China has presented works at performance venues across the globe, including Lincoln Center in New York, The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and stages throughout Europe and Australia. Recent productions include Confucius, Dragon Boat Racing, The Legend of Mulan, and the acclaimed American debut of the Peking Opera star Zhang Huoding.

With traditional Chinese music, opulent costumes, and expressive choreography, Soaring Wings is a dance drama about the crested ibises, beautiful and precious rare creatures, which symbolize happiness and blessings. Centuries ago, human beings lived in harmony with these birds - reserved, elegant, sacred and noble, yet also sensitive, vulnerable and occasionally distant. With modernization and urbanization though, the living environment of the crested ibis began to deteriorate and in the middle of the 20th Century, it was declared that crested ibises were endangered species.

In May 1981, Chinese scientists accidentally discovered seven wild crested ibises in Yang county, Shaanxi province and today, in China, Japan, Korea and eastern Siberia, with increasingly conscious and careful protection, the population of crested ibis has been growing as an auspicious sign. Soaring Wings shows the importance of keeping a harmonious relationship with animals and reflects the interdependence between human beings and nature.

Produced by Chen Feihua, the artistic director of the Shanghai Dance Theatre, Soaring Wings has set design by Zhang Jiwen, costume design by Zhong Jiani, lighting design by Xing Xin, makeup design by Xu Bin, and props design by Li Hongchao.

Soaring Wingsstars Zhu Jiejing and Wang Jiajun, both principal dancers of the Shanghai Dance Theatre.

"Nature has always been an integral part of the Chinese culture and philosophy and we tend to focus on the relationships between the various elements in nature rather than what controls them," said Mr. Wang Xiuqin, Deputy Director of CAEG. "We hope that this dance drama, performed with artistry and grace by the Shanghai Dance Theatre, will engage the hearts and minds of audiences and bring the story of these beautiful creatures to life in unexpected and exhilarating ways."

Since its premiere on October 7, 2014, Soaring Wings has played nearly 200 performances in China andAsian countries.

The performance schedule for Soaring Wings is: January 5th at 8:00pm, January 6th at 8:00pm, and January 7th at 1:00pm. Tickets, priced from $22 to $167 (plus a $3.50 facility fee) are currently available at the David H. Koch Theater Box Office, online at www.DavidHKochTheater.com or by calling 212-496-0600.

Founded in Jun. 1979, Shanghai Dance Theatre (SDT) completed the enterprise restructuring of sate-owned art troupes in Nov. 2009. SDT is committed to creating Chinese traditional dance dramas, dance productions, vocal and instrumental music productions, etc. Since its foundation, SDT has accumulated a large number of high-quality artistic productions such as the grand costume show Golden Dances & Silver Costumes, dance dramas Shinning Red Star, Wild Zebra,Farewell to My Concubine, Hua-Mulan, Stage Sisters, Let's Dance Together, Soaring Wings, grand dance epic The Red Clouds over the Horizon, etc. SDT has created a number of special gala shows including drum dance Dragon Sound, and dance collections Fragrance, The Dances We Danced,On the Road, Sky, Earth and People, The Songs in the Heart, On the Wings of Song, Date inSpring, etc. SDT has also created over 100 dance pieces such as Root Carving, Contemporary Rhythm, Deep Night, Beauty, Earth, Listen to the Body, Shanghai Memory, The North Return of Wild Geese, The Girls and the Rain of the Dai Nationality, Dandelion, Heaven Bath, Wandering, At This Moment, etc.

SDT has received many awards and honors including China "Five Ones" Project Award, China National Stage Art Fine Works Project Award, Wenhua Award by China Ministry of Culture, Gold Prize of Lotus Award of China National Dance Competition, Gold Prize of China National Minority Dance Competition, Special Jury Prize of the Professional Dance Competition of East China (6 provinces + 1 municipality), Shanghai Literary and Artistic Creation Award for Competitive Work, and so forth. SDT has a pool of talents such as the principal dancers Zhu Jiejing, Fang Guang, Wang Jiajun, Hou Tengfei, Deng Yun, Wang Jing, who are all famous young dancers and own global appeal. Besides, there are a large number of excellent soloist dancers and leading dancers constituting the high-quality dance talents in echelon. They have visited the USA, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, UK, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Denmark, Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Turkey, Thailand, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Morocco, Hungary and Chinese Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, etc. Dance dramas such as Golden Dances & Silver Costumes, Wild Zebra, Farewell to My Concubine, Soaring Wings are all famous and have got a great reputation on a global scale.

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