24 October 2017
On 19 October 017, the performance group comprising teachers and students of STA traveled to Cali, the third largest city of Colombia, after completing the successful first performance at the Confucius Institute at Medellin the night before. In Cali, the STA performance group will hold two workshops on Chinese traditional opera works and give two performances at the "2017 Cali International Theatre Festival".
On the evening of 20 October, a solemn and warm opening ceremony of the theatre festival was held in the open-air theatre in the cultural park at the city centre of Cali. Perhaps because of the presence of a Chinese delegation, there was a Chinese national flag constantly waving in the theatre. This made the teachers and students of the STAS performance group feel very warm! We all felt very proud of winning honor for our country and our university.
(Warm atmosphere at the performance site)
The opening ceremony kicked off in a lively and passionate concert with a rich South American style. The enthusiastic audience danced with the singing of the performers on stage. At that moment, the performers on the stage and the audiences below the stage merged into a jubilant ocean. There were enthusiastic audiences coming and asking to take pictures with our teachers and students from time to time.
(Stage photo of performance)
On the afternoon and evening of 27 October, at the invitation of the theatre festival’s organizing committee, the STA performance group gave two consecutive performances of the newly adapted experimental drama “Juliet’s Revival” at the Jorge Isaacs Theater in the city centre of Cali, which were warmly welcomed and extremely well received by the local audience. Originally, it was concerned whether this kind of theatrical story featuring the fusion of Chinese traditional opera and modern drama, the integration of the Eastern and Western styles and the time-travel crossing China and foreign countries could be understood and accepted by South American audiences. In fact, this worry was completely unnecessary. The audience not only could fully understand the storyline, but also were deeply touched by the love tragicomedy of Juliet and Du Shiniang and responded with warm applause time and again. At the conclusion of the performance, the audience rose to express their heartfelt congratulations and thanks to the artists from faraway China. The chairman of the theatre festival’s organizing committee said with great passion, "I have seen your exhibitions and performances and I feel honored to have invited you to participate in the theatre festival. It was through your lively performance with very rich national culture, I have learnt the Chinese culture and art, acquired a deeper understanding of the Chinese people and Chinese culture, and understood that China has a glorious history and splendid culture both in the past and at present. We hope that the friendship between the two peoples of Colombia and China will last forever and our exchange will be carried out on a continuous basis.”
(Photo of workshop in progress)
During the festival, the teachers and students of the STA performance group also held the themed exhibition on "Chinese Dramatist Tang Xianzu and His Work ‘Peony Pavilion’ on the International Stage” and workshops on Chinese traditional opera at the library and culture palace of the city, which were widely and unanimously praised by the guests of the theatre festival’s organizing committee and audience. As the chairman of the theatre festival’s organizing committee said: "Your presence has allowed us to feel and experience the charm of each other’s culture and, at the same time, has made us further realize the importance and urgency of cultural exchange in today’s world!”
