On September 9th, the opening ceremony of the First Halifax Chinese Cultural Festival, sponsored and organized by the Confucius Institute at Saint Mary's University, was held at Dalhousie University's Rebecca Cohn Theater.
Surrounded by the sound of gongs and drums with lively lion dance performance, Keith Cowell, Representative of Nova Scotia provincial government, Mike Savage, Mayor of Halifax, Robert Summerby-Murray, President of Saint Mary's University, Wang Mingqing, Representative of the Chinese Embassy in Canada, Sun Genlou, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of Chinese Cultural Festival, and Guo Chaoyang, Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute at Saint Mary's University, performed ribbon-cutting ceremony. The event marked the grand opening of the first Chinese Cultural Festival in Halifax.
Ribbon-cutting ceremony
Robert Summerby-Murray (first from left) talking with Guo Chaoyang
In his speech, Robert Summerby-Murray emphasized that Saint Mary's University has maintained friendly cooperation with many Chinese universities over the years and established a deep friendship with Xiamen University in particular. The holding of the Chinese Cultural Festival this time is of great significance to promoting cultural exchanges between the two countries.
Subsequently, the “China Family” arts troupe was invited to provide a colorful cultural feast for an audience of nearly 10,000. The members of the arts troupe are all well-known Chinese artists from National Peking Opera Company, National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, China National Acrobatic Troupe, Art Troupe of All-China Federation of Trade Union, Beijing Dance Drama & Opera, etc. Among them, China National Acrobatic Troupe was the gold medal winner of the 12th International Circus in Budapest, Hungary this year.
Theatrical performances
At the full-packed venue the atmosphere was lively. The performance started with the song “Jasmine Flower”. The warm and beautiful love for jasmine flower was very touching, extending the best wishes for the friendship between the two countries. The acrobatic performances including Wheeling Dishes, Kick Umbrella, Chinese Diabolo, Ball Catching, and Qingli, dazzled and fascinated the audience. The Peking Opera The Red Lantern and Ode to the Pear Tree showed the classical charm from the Far East. The folk music show “China United with One Heart” enabled the audience to experience the beauty of Chinese folk music. “I Love You, China”, “My Motherland”, “The Cloud of Hometown” and other high-pitched solos pinned the deep thoughts and sincere wishes of overseas Chinese to the motherland, touching the audience at the scene.
Acrobatic performances
This wonderful performance of music, acrobatics and dance fully reflects the characteristics of classic Chinese culture and art, leaving a deep impression on the local people. The Chinese Cultural Festival will last for 14 days. (cited from Confucius Institute Headquarters, source: Confucius Institute at Saint Mary's University)
