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Chinese dance made in Canada
Lorita Leung Dance Company |
In 1984, it became the first overseas Chinese dance group to perform in the People’s Republic of China at the invitation the Chinese Ministry of Culture. Since then, the Company has toured China three additional times and has performed in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the United States and across Canada.
The Lorita Leung Chinese Dance Company is highly regarded for its work in promoting, preserving and enhancing Chinese dance culture in Canada, and has become a well-known cultural ambassador and artistic leader in the field of Chinese dance.
Leung is well respected in Canada, Hong Kong, China and Taiwan as a Chinese dance teacher, educator, choreographer and writer. She is chairman and founder of The Lorita Leung Dance Association, a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion, preservation and enhancement of Chinese dance.
Born in Shanghai, Leung began her formal dance study in ballet and Chinese dance.
At 16, she became a member of the elite Lanchow Army Song and Dance Troupe, performing as a professional dancer throughout China and Korea until leaving her homeland for Hong Kong in 1963.
Arriving penniless, Leung spent the next seven years building a successful career as a dance and mime instructor in film and television. She eventually earned the reputation as the colony’s premier Chinese dance choreographer responsible for the artistic direction of a weekly television show on Rediffusion Television.
A frequent visitor to China, during the 70’s and 80’s she was one of a select few dance instructors living outside China permitted to study minority dance without restriction.
In 1986, she received the only North American invitation to observe the National Dance Competition in Beijing. In 1994, she represented Canada and gave a lecture on “Dance in Canada” at an International Dance Conference in Beijing.
In 1997, Lorita presented Chinese dance at the “Building Bridges” Dance Artists Development Weekend Workshop organized by the dance centre with the support of Multiculturalism and Citizenship Canada. Lorita is Chairman and the Chinese Dance Examiner of the National Dance Division of the Canadian Dance Teachers Association in B.C. She is a certified teacher of the Beijing Dance Academy Chinese Dance Syllabus.
She has a diploma in dance theory from the Beijing Dance Academy.
The May 2008 edition of Dance Allsorts will be with Lorita Leung Chinese Dance and Moving Dragon featuring both traditional Chinese dance and contemporary cross-cultural dance, showcasing the evolution of the Chinese dance form. New Works is presenting Dance Allsorts: Vancouver’s most diverse dance series. The show is presented in partnership with the Roundhouse Community Centre, this popular, inexpensive series exposes audiences to all sorts of dance.
The 10th season of Dance Allsorts 2008 will be on May 11 at Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre located along Davie Street.
New Works is proud to acknowledge the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council, the British Columbia Arts Council, the B.C. Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch, and the City of Vancouver.
To learn more about Lorita Leung or the Chinese Dance Company, visit: www.newworks.ca or see: www.chinesedance.ca.
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