February 1, 2008

Chinese culture celebrated with February performance

The event, which is free and open to the public, is 2-3:30 p.m. in Stewart Center's Loeb Playhouse. The entertainment will be provided by Butterfly Performing Troupe of Traditional Chinese Arts from the Zhejiang Province in China.

This event gives Purdue and the Greater Lafayette community a rare opportunity to enjoy the brilliant cultural essences from China and the authenticity of such performances," says Wei Hong, an associate professor of Chinese and director of the institute.

The program features traditional Chinese instrumental and vocal music, folk dance, acrobatics and excerpts from a Chinese classic opera, 'The Peony Pavilion.' All the artists have toured extensively in and outside China and performed at world-class venues such as the Golden Hall of Vienne Opera House."

Zhejiang is a province south of Shanghai and is considered one of the most prosperous provinces of China. It became Indiana’s sister province in 1989.

"As artistic ambassadors from Zhejiang to Indiana, the Butterfly Performing Troupe will not only bring beautiful Chinese music and dance, but also further strengthen the flourishing cultural and economical ties between the two sister states," Hong says.

The celebration is sponsored by the Purdue China Center, Office of the Provost, the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Consumer and Family Sciences, the School of Veterinary Medicine and Gamma Sigma Delta, which is the honor society of agriculture.

The Confucius Institute at Purdue is a collaboration among the colleges of Liberal Arts, Engineering and the Krannert School of Management, as well as Shanghai Jiaotong University in Shanghai, China. One-hundred forty Confucius institutes worldwide are sponsored by the Chinese Language Council International to develop relationships and understanding between countries.

Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, (765) 494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu

Source: Wei Hong, (765) 494-3859, hongwei@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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