From September 23 to October 5, the art ensemble of BFSU made a performance tour to Hungary and Poland with the theme of “Voice of China • Rhythm of Autumn”. The performance group went through eight cities of two countries and presented brilliant feasts of Chinese culture to the enthusiastic audience in Confucius Institutes at University of Miskolc and University of Eotvos Lorand, University of Pécs and University of Szeged of Hungary and Confucius Institutes in Opole, University of Adam Mickiewicz, University of Wroclaw and Krakow of Poland. The performance tour, organized by the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) and undertaken by BFSU, served as an art exchange with the purpose of echoing the activities of global “Confucius Institute Day” and enhancing friendly exchanges with Central and Eastern European countries. With the support of local Confucius Institutes, the tour performers, bearing a high-standard artistic pursuit and serious attitude, made full preparation and seriously treated each performance, which turned out to be well-received.
The touring group for “Lecture, Performance, Exhibition” of BFSU consisted of students and teachers of the Academy of Arts, dance group, Chinese orchestra, and chorus of our university and those of the Chinese martial arts group from Beijing Sport University. Travelling at an average distance of over 300km per day, the touring group presented eight brilliant performances in ten days. The performances in innovative and diverse forms showed a professional artistic standard, integrated the local language and cultural habits on the basis of multilingual characteristics of BFSU and added certain creative elements and interactive parts, which gained widespread popularity wherever they went. For the purpose of extending influence of the activity, each Confucius Institute had made full preparations to publicize the performance in advance by way of advertising in the city, actively cooperating and coordinating with local groups for larger venues. The audience ranged from teachers and students of universities, middle schools and primary schools, to residents of local communities and friends from all walks of life. Therefore, it indeed achieved the goal of delivering a friendly message to foreign countries, strengthening cooperation and presenting the charm of Chinese culture.
The touring group boasted various typesof performance, attractive content, creative costumes and props, and commendable performances with a high level of appreciation.Step by Step,Dance of the Yi, andA night of Flowers and Moonlight by the Spring Riverof traditional folk music ensemble were both classic and cheerful;China’s Charm,The Drunken Man Tackled the MonkeyandFloating Clouds and Flowing Waterof Chinese martial arts were both powerful and thrilling；FleetingandBeautyof Chinese classic dance andSwan Goose,Dai BeautyandWhy Are the Flowers So Redof folk dance were beautiful, moving and affectionate; the chorus without music accompaniment ofCoat of Arms of HungaryandEl Nino Lullabyof Poland song struck a chord with audience because of its familiarity and tender melody;Lift Your Veilof the folk song and the popular song relay made the clapping last all the time;The Random Talk of Artof comic dialogue in English performed by the young cross-talk comedians Yan Jiabao and Zhang Ji created sparks of joy by the combination of the east and west comic cultures and the tongue twister in Hungarian and Polish, along with English allegro rap and magic performance brought down the house; the famous Peking Opera excerpts such asThe Drunken Beauty,The Concubine of Chu’s DreamandThe Wild Boar Forestperformed by Sun Ping, teacher of Academy of Arts of BFSU, and Ye Jinsen, a renowned performing artist of Beijing opera, added a strong sense of cultural connotation. The performance lists for each Confucius Institute were adjusted in accordance with local situations so as to adapt to the local culture as much as possible.For example,as the venue of the Confucius Institute at University of Pécs was in the middle of the street square with local citizens as the majority of the audience, performance with strong expressiveness, such as dances, martial arts and instrumental performance took the priority so as to cater to the interest of the audience. The assistant dean of School of Life Sciences and foreign director of the Confucius Institute at University of Pécs spoke highly of the performance by saying it was the most spectacular Chinese artistic performance he had ever seen in recent years.
Meanwhile, a lot of interactive activities were added to the performances and the award-winning questions deepened the audience’s understanding and love of Chinese culture. The distinctively interactive activities in the martial arts performance made it possible for audience to “compete” with the martial arts actors and “learn skills from the masters”on spot by picking up some easy movements of martial arts, which made the local audience who have a strong interest in China excited and thrilled. The lingering zest drove them to come to the stage and took photos with the actors. Many interviewed local audience expressed that they totally enjoyed the whole performance and wished the art ensemble of BFSU could come again to Hungary and Poland to present the brilliant cultural performances.
The activities of “Lecture, Performance, Exhibition” have aroused high concern and coverage of the media of Hungary and Poland. Polish public radio interviewed Zhao Min, Deputy Secretary of the Party of BFSU, and fully affirmed the active role of the touring group of BFSU in cross-cultural dialogue and communication in its coverage. CCTV-4 Chinese International Channel,IFENG,CRI Online,Hungary New Herald,China Youth Dailyand other media all reported this artistic performance of BFSU, spoke highly of the show and thumbed up for the cultural exchange activities.
Cultural exchanges, as one of the important components of civil diplomacy and public diplomacy, have always played an indispensable and imperceptible role like “water moistening things quietly”. Activities of “Lecture, Performance, Exhibition” quietly connect the feelings of Chinese and Hungarians as well as Chinese and Polish, but “vividly”spread the extensiveness and profoundness of Chinese culture, playing an active role in promoting the friendship and mutual trust in culture between China and Hungary as well as China and Poland.
The links of related coverage are as follows:
The video link of media coverage of Arbor of Poland
http://opole.tvp.pl/21935294/1-pazdiernika-2015）
The art ensemble of Beijing Foreign Studies University presented a brilliant performance for Krakow citizens, reported byCRI Online:
http://gb.cri.cn/42071/2015/10/04/6891s5122582.htm
