The Columbia City Jazz Dance Company Performs in China
June 28, 2006 - The Beginning of an Adventure
Here we are, most of us anyway, in Beijing, along with a few extra
folk that jumped into the pic at the last second!
The Olympics are coming to Beijing in 2008. As a prelude to this, the Chinese Ministry of Culture has begun a cultural exchange program and has put several Chinese agencies to task to seek out foreign performing groups and artist to share their art with the people of China during the time leading up to the Olympics. Imagine our shock when we received an invitation to represent the United States in China this summer. Imagine our additional shock when we saw that the original invitation was for three full months!!
Sadly, we had to decline. Our dancers couldn't be away from school and their families for this amount of time. But, after a considerable amount of negotiations, we were finally offered a five week long tour, covering China from top to bottom. Tomorrow morning at 5:30, we board a plane in Charlotte, N.C. and fly to Beijing, China!
Disclaimer! No other dance company like ours has ever done such a comprehensive tour in the country of China. This is a historic first for many reasons! That said, the views expressed in the following travelogue are completely my own and not necessary that of the entire company! I've decided to go with a no-holds-barred approach, both good and not so good, to help folks understand the enormity of what we've done. The cultural and language differences made this a very interesting adventure, and I'd like the reader to experience it all.
Les Mizzell, Technical Director, Columbia City Jazz Dance Company