Jun 142013
 

Taipei-Arts-700

A co-production of the East-West Center Arts Program and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Outreach College

The Asia Pacific Dance Festival showcases the finest dances, dancers, and choreographers from Asia and the Pacific. Centered on a series of performances, the Festival includes such complimentary activities as workshops, university course offerings, public lectures, forums, and community demonstrations. These activities foster diverse and dynamic types of interactions leading to opportunities for dialogue that increases cross-cultural understanding and respect for what we know and what we come to know.

Because the values and belief systems of people are embedded in their dances, dance is an ideal window through which to expand our understandings of others and to gain insights into our own worldview and those of others. Hence, the Festival recognizes similarity and diversity, and honors the past, the present, and the future by enhancing exposure to, and understanding of, many of the rich forms of dance from Asia and the Pacific.

For more information, click here to view the Asia Pacific Dance Festival homepage.

For a summary of scheduled performances and ticket prices, click here.

May 032013
 

The East-West Center Arts Program presents

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The Peranakan Chinese are descendents of Chinese traders who settled in Malacca and coastal areas of Java and Sumatra as early as the 15th century. They married into local Southeast Asian communities, as Chinese women were not legally allowed to leave China. In the 19th century, the Peranakan immigrated into the bustling ports of Penang and Singapore during the British colonial expansion. The Peranakan community was successful as merchants and, later, as professionals. These communities are often referred to as Straits Chinese or baba nyonya (baba refers to the males and nyonya to the females). Continue reading »