Chinese performers get to play tourists in Richmond (richmond-news 3.6.2002) -- The Angel Moon Lee / Moon Dancing Studio

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Date Posted: 13:09:03 02/18/03 Tue
Author: Yanni
Subject: Chinese performers get to play tourists in Richmond (richmond-news 3.6.2002)

Cast members and crew from Of Heaven and Earth are staying at Richmond's Park Plaza Vancouver Airport Hotel. The 'action-musical' includes almost 100 performers.
(Rob Kruyt photo - Vancouver Courier)

Chinese performers get to play tourists in Richmond

By Michelle Hopkins (mhopkins@richmond-news.com)

Yu Chenxi was only seven years old when she was accepted at the Beijing Shi Cha Hai Athletic Academy in Beijing, China. It was a young age to leave home, but for Chenxi it was an honour and privilege to be trained at one of the most elite athletic and dance schools in the country.

"I believed my school was the best, so I didn't feel sorrow about leaving my family," Chenxi said Thursday.

Her childhood determination has paid off.

Now 13 years old, Chenxi has been in Richmond for the past three weeks staying at the Park Plaza Vancouver Airport Hotel along with 97 young performers and crew with the stage extravaganza, Of Heaven and Earth.

Chenxi shows off her astounding skill with a sword in the "action-musical," which is a love story of mythical proportion. Now playing at the Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts (formerly the Ford Centre), the show combines elements of Riverdance, Cirque du Soleil and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Now that the show is in full swing, the performers have managed to take some time to be tourists. They have gone to Gastown, Granville Island, the Richmond Buddhist Temple, and a few Richmond malls.

And last week, Chenxi, along with three other cast members - 21-year-old Ma Jia, who plays the weaver goddess, 23-year-old Yunze Ming, who plays her lover, and martial arts expert Xiao Ming Yu, 17 - took time out for a fun session at the Richmond Go-Kart Track where the News caught up with them.

All four echoed their joy at a temporary reprieve from what they described as the dry, dusty, polluted air of Beijing's overcrowded city.

"I think here the air is good and it's beautiful - the ocean and the breeze are so nice," said Yu.

The one thing they do miss from home, though, is the rice.

"The rice here is too soft," Yu said with a grin. "But I like the burgers."

Dr. Dennis Law, producer of the show and one of the owners of the Centre, acted as the translator for the performers, who speak Mandarin.

He said Canada is lucky to see the talent of the four young performers, along with other dancers, acrobats and martial artists who make up the stage spectacular.

"It's only been in the last few years that the (Chinese) government has allowed its performers to travel to North America to work in theatrical productions," Law said.

Of Heaven and Earth's performance has been extended until June 16. For more info about the show check the web site at www.ofheavenandearth.com.

http://www.richmond-news.com/061102/lifestyles/061102li2.html

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