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Music, dancing and a spectacular fireworks display will mark the arrival of the Year of the Dragon at Lakeside Arts Centre, at The University of Nottingham.
Local residents are invited to join the celebration of Chinese New Year at a free event on Sunday, January 29th.
Outdoor celebrations at Lakeside Arts Centre will feature traditional lion and dragon dances — performed by local schoolchildren and members of the city’s Chinese community — plus Chinese music and photography, culminating in a spectacular fireworks display over the University lake.
The event, which runs from 4.30pm-6pm, will also include the first-ever performances of several new works created especially for young East Midlands dancers by Chinese choreographer Rong Tao, visiting Nottingham from the city of Chongqing, and guest Choreographer, Jose Aguido.
Celebrate across the county
A programme of events is also being held with partner organisations across Broxtowe, Gedling, Rushcliffe and Nottingham city in the build-up to Sunday 29th.
On Sunday January 22nd, families in Rushcliffe have the chance to try a range of Chinese-inspired arts and crafts activities, as well as the opportunity to listen to traditional Chinese stories from musician and storyteller Ling Peng. The event runs 2pm-4pm at the Sir Julien Cahn Pavilion, West Park, Loughborough Road in West Bridgford.
Also on the 22nd, families can come to Lakeside for an afternoon of free workshops run by the University’s Confucius Institute. The workshops taking place between 1-3pm include paper cutting, calligraphy, a fan dance demonstration by Rong Tao and a Chinese Tea Ceremony.
On Saturday January 28th, Broxtowe Borough Council in partnership with the Beeston Bid and Bartons will be holding a packed programme of events in Beeston Square from 10am-1pm, including a family procession, sword dance, Kung Fu demonstration, dragon dancing and more. A free event at Bartons from 12-4pm will feature cultural workshops including painting, calligraphy, Tai Chi, puppets and storytelling.
Also on the 28th, at Arnot Hill Park in Arnold, Gedling Borough Council and Gedling Play Forum present a series of Chinese-inspired arts and crafts including dragon-themed costumes, lantern-making and a lantern parade around the lake at 5.15pm.
A full programme of Chinese New Year events in Nottingham is available here, with a Chinese language version here.
Shona Powell, Director of Lakeside at The University of Nottingham, said: “Chinese New Year has become a popular part of Nottingham’s cultural landscape in recent years. Links between China and Nottinghamshire are becoming ever stronger and we hope that this year’s event will be a fitting celebration of Spring Festival — the most widely celebrated event in the Asian calendar.”
Photography and dance
A stunning exhibition at the Wallner Gallery in the DH Lawrence Pavilion at Lakeside features the work of documentary photographers Yuan-Hsiung Wang and Xue Qian. Their series of photographs, on display until February 20th, aims to capture the rapidly changing nature of the environment and the way of life and culture of some of the 56 different ethnic groups who live in China.
The exhibition has been made possible by a grant from Cascade, previously known as the University’s Annual Fund, which is made up of donations from University of Nottingham alumni.
Meanwhile University of Nottingham students from the Nottingham Confucius Institute, The School of Contemporary Chinese Studies and Nottingham Chinese Students and Scholars Association are joining forces with the Weinan University Arts Troupe to present a special Chinese New Year Gala at the Albert Hall, Nottingham on Friday February 3rd.
The performance includes traditional and modern Chinese music, song and dance, Peking opera, Chinese martial arts, calligraphy and musical instrument pieces. It will also showcase the dazzling talents of the awarding-winning performers from Weinan in north western China.
More information on all events is available from the Lakeside Arts Centre.
Lakeside: Cultural Impact is a key project within the University’s new appeal, Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, which is delivering the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future. Find out more about Lakeside and how you can support us at http://tiny.cc/UoNImpact
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Notes to editors: The University of Nottingham, described by The Sunday Times University Guide 2011 as ‘the embodiment of the modern international university’, has award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. It is ranked in the UK's Top 10 and the World's Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong (SJTU) and the QS World University Rankings. It was named ‘the world’s greenest university’ in the UI GreenMetric World University Ranking 2011, a league table of the most environmentally-friendly higher education institutions.
The University is committed to providing a truly international education for its 40,000 students, producing world-leading research and benefiting the communities around its campuses in the UK and Asia. Impact: The Nottingham Campaign, its biggest ever fund-raising campaign, will deliver the University’s vision to change lives, tackle global issues and shape the future. For more details, visit: www.nottingham.ac.uk/impactcampaign
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise, with almost 60 per cent of all research defined as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’. Research Fortnight analysis of RAE 2008 ranked the University 7th in the UK by research power.
The University’s vision is to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health. The University won a Queen’s Award for Higher and Further Education in 2011, for its research on global food security.
More news from the University at: www.nottingham.ac.uk/news