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SF Intl. Arts Festival "Speaking Chinese"

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum
San Francisco, CA

San Francisco International Arts Festival
The fifth annual San Francisco International Arts Festival (SFIAF) kicks off on May 21 and runs through June 8 with more than 40 performances and three major visual arts exhibits being presented by more than 25 San Francisco Arts organizations at multiple venues throughout the City. With its annual theme, "The Truth in Knowing/Now: Threads in Time, Place, Culture," SFIAF 2008 will include numerous World Premieres, US Debuts & International Collaborations featuring leading artists from the Bay Area performing and exhibiting with and alongside their international peers from around the world. This year's festival includes dance, music, opera, theatre and visual arts and events will take place at the Asian Art Museum, Chinese Cultural Center, CounterPULSE, Dance Mission Theater, Herbst Theatre, Union Square, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Yerba Buena Gardens and on numerous billboards in downtown San Francisco.

"SPEAKING CHINESE"
SFIAF 2008 will open at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts with the world premiere of "Speaking Chinese," a dance poem set to music with a score curated from the orchestral & chamber works of the acclaimed Shanghai composer Zhu Jianer (who will be present for the concert). The text for the piece is inspired by "Love in a Fallen City," a 1943 novella by the Chinese-American writer Zhang Ailing (1920-1995) and will be performed by Hou Honglan, principal soloist with the Chinese National Ballet and American performance artist C. Derrick Jones. The piece will be choreographed by Kim Epifano, with dramaturgy by Barry Plews.

The dance performance will include spoken word in Chinese with English super-titles. The collaboration is being developed in Shanghai, Beijing & San Francisco. The project is a co-production by Reckless Moments of Shanghai and Epiphany Productions Sonic Dance Theater of San Francisco.

Note: Photo Credit: Pictured C. Derrick Jones & Hou Honglan in "Speaking Chinese." Photo by Blain Crellin.

Kid Friendly: No

Dog Friendly: No

Non-Smoking: No

Wheelchair Accessible: No

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