{"id":553,"date":"2009-11-18T11:52:47","date_gmt":"2009-11-18T15:52:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/?p=553"},"modified":"2011-10-10T23:55:42","modified_gmt":"2011-10-11T03:55:42","slug":"chinoiserie-for-obama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.musicalamerica.com\/mablogs\/?p=553","title":{"rendered":"Chinoiserie for Obama"},"content":{"rendered":"

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China Watchers may have noted the recent WhiteHouse.gov photos of Obama’s after-dinner entertainment in Beijing. The performance after the State Dinner at the Great Hall of the People reinforced China’s popular “happy family” theme:<\/p>\n

I guessed right, the peacock dancer was the inevitable Yang Liping from Yunnan.
\nPer my Chinese colleagues, the other performers included:
\n“Super Oriental Choruses” from Inner Mongolia
\n“The Snow Lotus Sisters”: 3 singing sisters from Tibet
\nA trio of performers from Xinjiang, on drum, eijak (fiddle played on knee) and rawap (long-necked plucked instrument similar to a dutar or oud).
\nA traditional instrument ensemble from Beijing<\/p>\n

Efforts had been made to include some contemporary dance, without success. Such a wasted opportunity! China’s current Five Year Economic Plan considers cultural export a priority, and China’s contemporary dance field currently produces China’s highest quality work with international market appeal.<\/p>\n

More soon on a performance offered but not selected for the occasion.<\/p>\n

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