Diverse Chinese performances light up Helsinki Festival

Dancers in Tao Dance Theater group perform contemporary dance in Helsinki during the festival. [Photo/Xinhua]

Focus China project came to an end on Sunday in Helsinki, capital of Finland. More than 400 Chinese artists participated in the event, offering different performances or cultural activities almost every day during the well-known Helsinki Festival.

With the theme of "Genuine China: Linking Past and Future", the 17-day project covers 13 categories ranging from symphonies, ballet performances, traditional operas to movies, visual arts as well as intangible cultural heritages which deeply attracted Finnish people and tourists from other countries.

The Red Detachment of Women, a revolutionary ballet show by China Central Ballet Troupe became the opening performance of the project. As a classic Western art-form performed with a Chinese story by Chinese dancers, it successfully drew more than 5, 000 audience members and warm applause.

In return, Finnish artists performed the Last Warrior, a Peking opera directed by professor Lv Suosen of National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts. In the performance, all the libretto and spoken parts were in Finnish. Many Finnish audiences received this innovation warmly, because they could easily understand the whole story and enjoyed the glamour of Peking opera at the same time.

Renowned Chinese contemporary composer Tan Dun brought his new project, named Secret Songs of Women, to Helsinki's Music Centre as well. The project centered around the secretive language of nvshu, an ancient language which Chinese women, young and old alike, have used to express their suppressed emotions.
 

A Finnish artist performed Peking Opera the Last Warrior in Finland National Theater. [Photo/Culturalink.gov.cn]

Sponsored by Center of International Culture Exchange in the Chinese Ministry of Culture, China Central Academy Of Fine Arts and Tongji University, a two-month exhibition on the theme of Chinese design kicked off in Helsinki Design Museum during the festival. Only one week after its debut, more than 5, 000 visitors went to see the exhibition.

Chinese post-90s generation also showed their individual character through a special show named "25 X 25 — Close Encounter" during the festival. 12 Chinese artists under or around 25 years old offered a 25 hours non-stop comprehensive art show with installations, films, photography, new media, theatre, dance, music, food and drink in Cable Factory, the art and culture centre in Helsinki.

In addition, concerts by the Chinese Central Conservatory of Music and other philharmonic societies from China, Kunqu opera Legend of White Snake by Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre of China, acrobat show Zodiac Legend by Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe, contemporary dance shows by Tao Dance Theater group and other Chinese performances came to stage in succession in Helsinki. It offered a chance for the locals and tourists to encounter the richness of Chinese performing arts.

Meanwhile, the festival paid attention to Chinese folk arts and intangible cultural heritages. On the Asian Saturday (August 22), the Helsinki tai chi and kung fu clubs made presentations and conducted workshops on body and mind control in accordance with Chinese traditions in Kansalaistori Square. Tea rooms around the square served Chinese tea and introduced visitors to the culture of Chinese tea.

Finnish people were also fond of Chinese cultural activities such as the kite festival and night market of Chinese food. Just like what Tarja Kangaskorte, deputy head at Finish embassy in Beijing, said before the project, "this is the window for us to learn about China in a comprehensive way".