Atlanta-Chengdu festival celebrates culture

By Mallory Velten

Assistant Entertainment Editor

Mei Lan, Zoo Atlanta's giant panda cub, just turned one-and if this is how her first birthday is celebrated, you definitely don't want to miss out on next year's party.

On the evening of Sunday, Sept. 9, the Ferst Center for the Arts hosted the second performance of the Atlanta-Chengdu Gala: A Cultural Evening of Dance and Music. The event showcased multiple acts performed by dancers and musicians from both Atlanta and Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province in China.

This performance marked the culmination of the first ever Chengdu-Atlanta Giant Panda Arts Festival, which took place last week in honor of the first birthday of Mei Lan, Zoo Atlanta's giant panda cub. Mei Lan's parents, Lun Lun and Yang Yang, have been on loan to Zoo Atlanta from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding since 1999.

The Chengdu-Atlanta Giant Panda Arts Festival, which was hosted by the US-China Cultural and Educational Foundation, also celebrated the cultures of the two cities, which have enjoyed a close relationship since the loan of the two pandas. Chengdu cultural exhibitions were on display at Zoo Atlanta's Panda House throughout the week.

The gala consisted of multiple acts. More than 30 professional dancers and musicians from Chengdu, as well as a few performers from Atlanta, participated in the gala. The majority of the performances were dances, but the gala also featured singers, acrobats and other artists. While all the performances were superb, the few non-Chinese acts seemed somewhat out of place amongst all the vivid, elaborate costumes and distinctive music characterizing many of the acts by Chinese performers.

Students from Atlanta's Tri-Cities High School Performing Arts Magnet Program performed a hip hop dance number and a rendition of "Can You Feel A Brand New Day" from the musical The Wiz. Other performers from Atlanta included singer Sheila Wheat, the Joe Jennings and Howard Nicholson jazz quintet and an eight-year-old Chinese American girl who performed a traditional Chinese dance.

In perhaps the most amazing act of the show, two young Chinese girls performed various acrobatics while roller skating at high speeds. In November 2006 this act won first prize at the Bashu Literature and Art at Sichuan Acrobatic Contest. Not only was the performance amazing, but the two girls were nearly as cute as Mei Lan herself.

Most of the acts were dance numbers, including four ensembles performed by a group of young Chinese women. Each of the dances incorporated elements of Chinese life and culture, such as the Happy New Year Dance's use of the color blue and ocean themes to represent the Chinese tradition of eating fish for New Year's.

Notable performances also included the incredible finger-shadow show, in which the artist used her hands and head to create clever and humorous animals and even people.

Another performer skillfully used a complex panda puppet to paint a lovely picture of itself in an art form that is rare due to the great skill required both to make and operate such puppets.

All of the costumes were stunning-watching them was a show in itself. But what really helped make the gala a joy to watch was the passion that all the performers seemed to have for their arts.