BeijingDance/LDTX Will Present the US premiere of ARC

BeijingDance/LDTX (with support from Westphal College of Media Arts & Design Department of Performing Arts) will present the US premiere of Arc. Philadelphia is the first, and only East Coast, stop on a four-city tour for BeijingDance/LDTX. Performances will take place Friday, February 14 and Saturday, February 15 at 8pm at Mandell Theater at Drexel University, 3220 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia. Tickets are $20 General and $15 for students. Group discounts are also available. Tickets can be purchased at drexelperformingarts.com.

Arc is the first full-length work by BeijingDance/LDTX resident artist, ADIYA who is from Inner Mongolia, marking his transition from a dancer with the company, to choreographer. The piece was chosen by BeijingDance/LDTX Artistic Director Willy TSAO for its dynamism, and represents a new generation of Chinese artists. Arc is a symbolic reflection on the arc of life; the ups and downs and the ebbs and flows. The piece is inspired by dkyil'khor, the process of creating Tibetan sand mandalas where lamas carefully create an intricate graphic symbol of the universe out of colorful sand, painstakingly laying millions of grains of sand onto a platform. The creation takes place over a long period of time, from hours or days to even weeks. When the mandala is completed, the lamas ritualistically dismantle it, letting the sand return to its original form. This symbolizes the Buddhist doctrinal belief in the transitory nature of material life and that "no beauty in the world will last forever," as ADIYA notes.

Founded in 2005 by Artistic Director Willy TSAO and LI Han-zhong, BeijingDance/LDTX is China's first registered private professional contemporary dance company and one of the largest contemporary dance companies in the country. Although China has a rich and varied history with dance, contemporary dance is relatively new to China. BeijingDance/LDTX has established itself as an advocate for the development of contemporary dance in China, and a platform where Chinese dance artists can freely express themselves as artists. Since 2008, BeijingDance/LDTX has been a co-presenter of the largest contemporary dance festival in China, The Beijing Dance Festival, held every July and attracting both performers and audiences from all over the world.

Arc Performance Details

Friday, February 14

Saturday, February 15

8pm

Mandell Theater at Drexel University, 3220 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia

Tickets: $20 General/$15 Student/Group Discounts

Tickets: drexelperformingarts.com

BeijingDance/LDTX continues their US tour with performances:

February 21 & 22: Caltech Live! 2020 at Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena, CA

February 26: Barclay Theatre in Irvine, CA

February 28 & 29: TITAS/Dance Unbound at Moody Performance Hall in Dallas, TX

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