London Chinese Cultural Centre

Chinese New Year 2005, 5 — 20^th February

Welcome to the Year of the Rooster

The Chinese Cultural Centre will present an unmissable programme in venues across London and beyond consisting of a variety of cultural activities. The events will involve visiting artists and troupes from China and Taiwan.

The New Year Festivities are followed by the Chinese Film Festival which includes films and seminars with overseas speakers.

Highlights

Grand Parade

This spectacular annual event begins with a Grand Parade along Charing Cross Road and is followed by Dragon Dance and the very best in Chinese Arts and Entertainment on the main stage in Trafalgar Square. Acts include leading Chinese Tenor Yu Qiang Dai, Peking Opera, Yellow Earth Theatre, Acrobats from Hunan, Chinese Ballet from Beijing, Red Poppy percussion group and Martial arts demonstration.

Variety Show

The Flying Swallow Acrobatic Group from Hunan who performed at last year’s celebrations were one of the main talking points. The show was unlike nothing seen before and the audience were a little awe struck to say the least. Appearing again for a second time at this year’s celebration with two new performers, it promises to be even more amazing.

Li Mengjia and Cao Man from the Beijing Peking Opera Institution will perform excerpts from popular operas. These short pieces will display difficult operatic technique combined with breathtaking acrobatic skills in Beijing operatic style.

Tam Xiang, visiting solo dancer from the Beijing Wujing Arts Troupe, will also participate in the festival alongside the Chinese Dance & Mime Theatre Company.

Puppet Theatre

Following last year’s success of the musical drama Marco Polo, under popular demand, the Toa Thui Thia Puppet Theatre returns to the Purcell Room to present a brand new production - The Wedding of the Mice.

Exhibitions

A Photography exhibition about the Early Chinese Immigrants: The first Chinatown in East London; Chinatown in the late 19th and early 20th Century. Chinatown Moves West; 1950's to the present day.

Museum Events

A programme of events and workshops at the Museum in Docklands which include: Decorate your own chopsticks and learn how to eat with them, various short films, Chinese Ribbon, traditional dance, talks about Chinese culture, Chinese Tea Tasting, hands-on workshop with silk and clocks, Lion Dance and masks, Mah Jong, and calligraphy.

Chinese Film Festival

A selection of feature and documentary films plus seminar and talks with visiting speakers. The Programme focuses on a range of documentaries about contemporary China. It includes examples from the exciting New Documentary Movement, as well as an outstanding work produced in the USA ’Morning Sun which casts a fresh eye on the experience of the Cultural Revolution with historical footage never seen before.