Beijing Dance Academy to make first NW appearance

The Beijing Dance Academy Youth Dance Company will visit the Northwest for the first time in February, with two performances of The Butterfly Lovers.

Presented by Seattle Theatre Group, the performances will be at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 27-28 at the Paramount Theatre.

Hailed as China's Romeo and Juliet, The Butterfly Lovers tells of a forbidden marriage. This will be performed to the popular 1959 violin concerto, of the same name, by Chen Gang and He Zhanhao and it is choreographed by Zhang Jianmin (2005 film The House of Flying Daggers).

The lead roles will be performed by Wang Zihan and Shao Junting, respectively. Both Wang and Shao are graduates of Beijing Dance Academy’s Classical Dance Department and have won numerous awards in prestigious national dance competitions.

The evening also includes a selection of award-winning classical Chinese pieces, choreographed by China’s up and coming choreographers, including Zhou Ping, Gao Chengming, Zhang Yunfeng, Sun Ying, Chen Weiva, Hu Lei, Jiang Yang and Zhang Disha.

Performances include Singing of the Wind (gold medalist for choreography and silver medalist for performance at the First CCTV Dance Competition); and Emperor Qin Shihuang Calls on Troops 1995 (inspired by the terra-cotta warriors of Qin Dynasty 221-207 BC, first prize winner of the Beijing Dance Competition, gold medalist for choreography and silver medalist for performance at the First CCTV Dance Competition).

Tickets, from $25 to $70, are on sale now by phone 1-877-STG-4TIX (1-877-784-4859), through the STG Box office (M-F 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) or online at www.stgpresents.org.

More information is available at www.butterflyloversdance.com.

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