By Zhao Xinxin, Dane Claussen, and Liu Jia
Originally from http://en.shisu.edu.cn/news/2014/2014,news,003512.shtml
SISU’s art troupe showed the charm of Chinese culture during its November tour in Morocco, Portugal and Spain.
Sponsored by China’s Hanban, Confucius Institute Headquarters and SISU, the art troupe performed in University Hassan II, the Confucius Institute of University Mohammed V, the Morocco-Asia Business Forum in Morocco, the Confucius Institute of University of Lisbon in Portugal and the Confucius Institute of University of Valencia in Spain.
Composed of a chorus, a dance troupe, a drama troupe and an orchestra, the troupe adjusted some programs to cater to local audiences. In Spain, they combined the Chinese traditional musical instrument pipa with a Spanish matador dance. In Morocco, Arabian songs were added to the playbill. The performance won bursts of warm laughter and applause. Audiences took active part in the performances’ interactive portion when they learned Chinese Kong Fu, Beijing Opera and Chinese folk songs. The troupe’s debut in Spain attracted more than 600 enthusiastic children, aging from 12 to 16.
“Culture has no borders and it is the bridge of mutual understanding between people from different countries,” said Maria Teresa, Dean of the Confucius Institute at University of Lisbon. “I’m sure this activity cannot only increase Portuguese students’ interest in Chinese, but also draw more Portuguese to learn Chinese and get to know China.”
One troupe member said, “The biggest gain from this tour is that we have shown SISUers’ versatility to the world. We are good at dancing, playing instrument as well as foreign languages. We can communicate fluently with local people and have obtained their compliment.”
The troupe members spent two months preparing for the tour. Besides intensive rehearsals, students produced promotional posters and videos in Spanish, Portuguese and French.
