A collective dance troupe who will be performing at the Guild Hall

Chinese New Year is almost upon us again and to mark the event there will be a unique night of song, dance and acrobatics at Preston Guild Hall’s Charter Theatre.

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UCLan’s Confucius Institute is organising the spectacular event at the Charter Theatre

There will be a performance by the Chengdu Nationalities Troupe who featured at the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games. Joined by Chengdu Arts Troupe, the night will see the exotic costumes and unusual musical instruments of the Far East transported to the North West of England.

Artists from four different ares of the Sichuan Province of China (Han, Yi, Tibetan, and Qiang) will perform. Sichuan is in a remote corner of western China which is twice as big as the UK.

Also featured on the night will be a troupe of Tibetan tap dancers, fire breathing, and a “face changing” performance, which will showcase the ancient skill of ‘Bian Lian’, rapid change of mask, an art which almost died out but has been revived and is demonstrated to thrilling effect.

Feixia Yu, director of UCLan’s Confucius Institute, said: “With China emerging as the next global superpower the whole world is becoming more interested in Chinese language and culture.

“By bringing some of these incredible artists to Preston to celebrate Chinese New Year we aim to give audiences a rare opportunity to experience Chinese culture for themselves and see some of the amazingly talented performers that exist in the world’s most populous country.”

This extraordinary glimpse into an often unseen part of China has been made possible by UCLan’s Confucius Institute, a partnership set-up in conjunction with the Beijing International Studies University, to promote the teaching of Chinese languages and culture in the UK. Since its establishment in 2008, UCLan’s Confucius Institute has helped more than 550 students in Lancashire visit China to study its language and culture.

Venue: Charter Theatre, Preston
Date: 12 February 2013
Time: 7.00pm.
Tickets: £15 (£10 concessions) from Preston Guild Hall and Charter Theatre Box Office
Te: 0845 3442012.

Tap dancing members of Ganzi