Atlanta Chinese Dance Company Will Present EVERYDAY HEROES

Atlanta Chinese Dance Company will honor everyday heroes of ancient and modern Chinese American stories through two Chinese dance dramas in an original production Everyday Heroes on September 28-29 at Gas South Theater featuring a multigenerational cast of 100+ ACDC dancers and guest artists. Bookended by the origin story of the Chinese Lunar New Year in which ancient villagers defeat a terrifying monster Nian ("Red Firecrackers" in partnership with the New Jersey based Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company) and a 1980s story of a Chinese American civil rights attorney who in fighting for justice embodies the spirit of a martial arts hero ("White Collar Wuxia" featuring new choreography by Kerry Lee with a guest performance by Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre's Scott Wheet), the production also features ten colorful dances celebrating diverse Chinese ethnic groups.

New Work - "White Collar Wuxia"

"White Collar Wuxia" is inspired by the spirit of the late Chinese American attorney Liza Chan who often fantasized about becoming a wuxia (ancient Chinese martial arts hero). While she would never become physically adept in combat, she came to realize that her true calling was fighting for justice in the courtroom.

Choreographer Kerry Lee explains, "I was deeply moved by Liza Chan's valiant but unsuccessful attempt to win justice in the first federal civil rights trial for an Asian American. Perhaps even more remarkable was her valiant but unsuccessful attempt to regain her ability to walk after becoming a paraplegic later in life. Through searing, unrelenting pain, she still managed to publish an uplifting memoir My Impossible Life which has gifted me - and so many others - strength in the face of adversity."

Flanked by a sword-wielding wuxia army of 16 dancers, Lee will perform the role inspired by the prosecuting attorney opposite guest artist Scott Wheet of Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre in the role of the defense attorney. With contributed choreography by Brandon Nguyen Hilton, the dance drama is a continuation of ACDC's ongoing work to partner with artists across genres to develop innovative Chinese dance choreography sharing rarely told Chinese American stories.

Atlanta Premiere of a Reimagined "Red Firecrackers"

"Red Firecrackers" is a family friendly dance drama about the origin story of the Chinese Lunar New Year created by the late choreographer Nai-Ni Chen. Originally premiered by a cast of eight professional dancers of the internationally acclaimed Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company (NNCDC) in New Jersey, ACDC has partnered with NNCDC to reimagine the dance drama for a multigenerational cast of eighty-three dancers ages four through seventy. Guest artist Yao-Zhong Zhang of NNCDC, a native of Shanghai, China who specializes in the male warrior role of the Kunqu opera tradition, will fly down from New York to perform the lead role.

Nian is the Mandarin Chinese word for year as well as the name of a terrifying monster who comes out of its hiding place in the darkest cave or deepest sea every year to eat people. This educational yet entertaining dance drama intertwines Chinese dance with storytelling to share the legend of how everyday people triumphed over the monster not with weapons but by coming together and working together with ingenuity. Their successful methods - scaring away Nian by wearing red clothing and lighting the sky with deafening firecrackers - have become Chinese Lunar New Year traditions.

Colorful Dances Celebrating Diverse Chinese Ethnic Groups

ACDC has a thirty-three-year history of presenting folk and classical Chinese dance repertory representing various regions and time periods of China. This year's production includes ten colorful dances of the Han ethnic majority as well as the Miao, Dai, Mongolian, Wa, Uyghur, and Tibetan ethnic minorities.

Everyday Heroes is supported in part by awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Georgia Council for the Arts through the appropriations of the Georgia General Assembly. Georgia Council for the Arts also receives support from its partner agency - the National Endowment for the Arts.

"White Collar Wuxia" is supported in part by an Artistic Assistance award from Alternate ROOTS made possible by funds from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Ford Foundation.

Tickets are $25 for Adults and $21 for Students and Seniors (65+). Purchase early for best seating.

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