Shaanxi Youth Folk Art Troupe Performs at Los Angeles Disneyland

At the central square of Disneyland in Los Angeles during the Chinese Spring Festival， a group of Chinese children wearing horn-shaped braids or white towel kerchiefs on their heads performed the waist-drum dance to the rhythm of typical northern Shaanxi folk music. The wonderful performance given by the Shaanxi Youth Folk Art Troupe at Disneyland was part of a cultural exchange with the United States under the “Rainbow Bridge Project”.

At the square， the youngsters performed a variety of formations and high leaps with red silk ribbons tied at their waist. The dance reflected the honest， simple， warm， optimistic and staunch character of the people of northern Shaanxi. Many visitors who were queuing for a photo op with Mickey Mouse were drawn to the scene by the lively music and were reluctant to leave even when the performance was over.

Tyra Donaldson， a 40-year-old tourist from Wyoming， said excitedly that the children’s dance was amazing and that she had never seen such dances before. “How happily and dynamically they danced， and how beautiful their costumes were！”

When the performance came to an end， warm applause rose from the audience. Many visitors came up to the young performers and asked to have pictures taken with them. Yao Yi， a little performer from the Ansai Waist-Drum Dance Team， said excitedly when interviewed， “I feel deeply honored to be able to come to the United States and give performance on behalf of our country. I should win glory for our motherland and demonstrate the elegant demeanor of our northern Shaanxi people and the charm of Ansai waist-drum dance.”

On the other side of the square， Guo Rulin， a peasant artist of patchwork art from Yanchuan County of Shaanxi， showed visitors how to make patchworks and gave paper-cuts to the visitors who were waiting in line. His works were very much liked and aroused great excitement.

Invited by the Walt Disney Company， the troupe participated in the “Chinese Spring Festival Special Performance Tour” in Disneyland from February 20 to 25.

The 20-member troupe， composed of young performers of yangge dance and waist-drum dance aged between nine and 11 and patchwork artists， came from the Disney Luochuan Youth Yangge Dance Team， the DSM Ansai Youth Waist-Drum Dance Team and the Cummins Yanchuan Cloth Painting Cooperatives under the Rainbow Bridge Project.

On the evening of Feb. 20， the troupe held a launching ceremony at the Disneyland Hotel attended by Kevin Callahan， Vice President of the Walt Disney Company， and Disney Ambassador Jessica Bernard. They said that the CPAFFC’s participation in the event was of great importance to promoting US-China cultural exchanges， and hoped that the two sides would take it as an opportunity to further promote cooperation between the young people of the two countries and people-to-people cultural exchanges.

At the ceremony， Red Lily Blossoms， a Northern Shaanxi folk song， sung by a young performer from the Ansai Waist-Drum Dance Team received favorable comment. Patchwork artist Guo Rulin presented his cloth painting The New Year Ushers in Good Fortune to the Disney Company， hoping that the friendship between the Chinese and American people， like the message implied in the painting， would develop continuously and be passed on from generation to generation.

The troupe also visited the headquarters of the Walt Disney Company and participated in the special activity “Newsies—Get Up and Go Event” organized by the company. The activity， as a part of the initiative “Disney Magic of Healthy Living”， aims at letting children experience the joy of healthy living through a simple dance choreographed with inspiration gained from the Broadway musical Newsies.

The Chinese children， learning the movements from a group of performers of the musical， danced joyously with their American counterparts on the square. At the end of the activity， they gave the American youngsters the waist drums， paper-cuts， dough figurines and cloth paintings they had brought with them.

The Rainbow Bridge Project is an innovative project of people-to-people diplomacy initiated by the CPAFFC in October 2012， aiming at building a bridge of cooperation and mutual benefit between transnational corporations and Chinese old revolutionary base areas.

It is hoped the Rainbow Bridge Project will take traditional Chinese folk arts to all corners of the world to facilitate people of other countries to learn about China and Chinese culture.