Cirque Zíva on stage at Kent State Tuscarawas
NEW PHILADELPHIA – The amazing Cirque Zíva performed by the Golden Dragon Acrobats will be on stage Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Kent State University at Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center. This family-friendly entertainment features 25 skilled performers who are acrobats, athletes, actors and artists who have trained since childhood. It is a fast paced, technically innovative and beautifully presented show.
Tickets for Cirque Zíva range in price from $28 to $48 and can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center box office, online at www.kent.edu/tusc/pac or by calling 330-308-6400. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free parking is available for all shows.
Producer Danny Chang, artistic director of the Golden Dragon Acrobats, created Cirque Zíva in 2011 for a 10-week engagement at Asbury Park Boardwalk’s Paramount Theatre, the first-ever summer run held at the venue in its more than 80-year history. It was an instant success in Asbury Park, earning critical acclaim and packed houses. The large cast and spectacular set designs illustrate the best of Chang’s brand of artistic merit, high production value and solid commitment to cultural exchange.
Of special note is Cirque Zíva lighting director Tony Tucci, the recipient of two B. Iden Payne Awards and Critics Table awards for lighting. Credits include: American Ballet Theatre’s Configurations with Mikhail Baryshnikov and the video “Baryshnikov, Dancer and The Dance;” Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre; works by Cynthia Gregory, Fernando Bujones; and Suzanne Farrell; and for 1996 Summer Olympics, designed the Cultural Olympiad, which showcased six national and international companies.
Chang and his Golden Dragon Acrobats continue their relentless, 30+ year U.S. touring schedule of centuries-old Chinese art form. Since 1985, they remain the only Chinese acrobatic company touring year-round in the United States, and present more than 200 performances annually. In 2005, their Broadway debut and seven-week run at the New Victory Theater earned two prestigious New York Drama Desk Awards nominations (Angela Chang for Best Choreography and Danny Chang for Most Unique Theatrical Experience).
Answering the new market demand from U.S. presenters, Chang restructured the Golden Dragon Acrobats in 1998 to form Asian Artists Productions, Inc. or AAPI. While the new company continued to produce and tour the Golden Dragon Acrobats, AAIP expanded to create theatrically elaborate, resident-shows like Circo Magnifico, Dream, Pagoda, Cirque D’or and others, each for a specific US market.
Lien Chi Chang officially established the Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats in 1967 with his family whose member included Danny Chang, his sister and other students. From 1967 to 1984, Lien Chi led the company to numerous performances in different nations. The Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats dazzled audiences range from eight year old kids to 80 years old seniors all across the globe. Danny Chang, who often traveled with his father’s Golden Dragon Acrobats, was later chosen by the National Acrobats Troupe of Republic of China to lead the various world tour produced by the most prestige acrobat school in Taiwan.
After more than 17 years of apprenticeship under his dad and several years of world tour, Danny Chang was ready to step up as the President of the Golden Dragon Acrobats when Lien Chi Chang accepted the head coaching job at the National Taiwan College of Performing Arts.
Today, the Golden Dragon Acrobats have been recognized as the preeminent Chinese acrobatic company in the United States. As the director and the producer, Chang has built a solid reputation based on his talents as both an acrobatic performer and artistic director. Every year, along with the choreographer, also his wife, Angela Chang, attend different acrobatic competitions to constantly select the most elite performers to join the Golden Dragon Acrobats.
The Golden Dragon Acrobats count among their distinctions being a seven-time recipient of the National Association of Campus Activities Entertainer of the Year Award, the Campus Activities Today’s Performer of the Year Award and, most recently, two most prestigious New York Drama Desk Award nominations for their Broadway performances. In recent years, individual members of the Golden Dragons have been recipients of awards at the Henan Regional Acrobatic Competition, the China National Acrobatic Competition, the National Teen Acrobatic Competition, the Italian National Acrobatic Competition, the International Young Adult Acrobatic Competition in Japan and the President’s Award at the International Acrobatic Competition, and have performed for President Bill Clinton and other leaders at the APEC meeting in Shanghai, China.
Category: Arts & Entertainment
