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Chinese Association of Southampton is in partnership with Red Dragonfly Productions to host the Dragonboat Performance Festival at Southampton Guildhall Square from Friday 10/6 to Sunday 12/6. Shows and activities inside our pop-up Rotunda Theatre are free. However, the number of seats inside the Rotunda Theatre is limited. First priority will be given to participants who have booked their tickets using eventbrite.

Friday 10/6/2022: booking for free shows at Eventbrite

• 6pm – Dragon Dance and Dragonboat Dance by Chinese Association of Southampton (CAS)
• 6:15pm – Speeches by VIPs
• 6:30pm – Chinese Gu-Zheng music performance by Wang Jingyi & Joylin Chang
• 6:45pm Cantonese Golden Oldies by Chinese Association of Southampton
• 7pm – Sneak peek of The Ballad of Mulan by Red Dragonfly Productions
• 7:05pm – Line Dancing by Chinese Association of Southampton

Saturday 11/6/2022: booking for free shows at Eventbrite

• 12pm – Dragonboat Dance, Martial Arts Display and Chinese Dances by Chinese Association of Southampton and Wutan Kungfu School: free
• 1:15pm – Cantonese Golden Oldies by Chinese Association of Southampton: free
• 2pm – Chinese musical instruments (Chinese Flute, Gu-Qin & Gu-Zheng) by Chinese Association of Southampton: free
• 3pm – South Asian dance and songs by Art Asia: free
• 3:30pm-4:30pm – Play reading performance of a new play ‘What’s Best for Jada’ by new British-Chinese playwright Alex Blanc at MAST Studios Homegrown Performance. £5 Tickets available here.
• 4:30pm – Fan Dancing as well as Tai Chi and Tai Chi Fan demonstrations by members and friends of Chinese Association of Southampton: free

Sunday 12/6/2022: booking for free shows at Eventbrite

• 12pm – Dragonboat Dance by Chinese Association of Southampton: free
• 12:30pm – Modern musical instruments performance by Kora and Peter Skuce: free
• 1pm – Chinese musical instruments and dances by Chinese Arts Southampton: free
• 1:30pm – Bollywood Beats by Eastleigh and Southampton Asian Community (ESAC): free
• 2pm – Chinese and Indian Dances by Portsmouth Chinese Association and ESAC: free
• 3:30pm – A special theatre performance of ‘The Ballad of Mulan’, based on the legendary Chinese warrior who inspired Disney’s films at MAST Mayflower Studios. Tickets available here.
• 4:50pm – Line Dancing by Chinese Association of Southampton: free

You are also encouraged to join two accompany shows inside the MAST Studios:

1. Saturday 11 June 3:30pm (1 hour) at MAST Studio 2 (Tickets £5)
   Taking Flight presents ‘What’s Best For Jada’ by Alex Blanc
   
   Red Dragonfly Productions is proud to present the rehearsed reading of ‘Taking Flight Festival’ New Writing Competition’s Winning play – ‘What’s Best for Jada’ by emerging British-Chinese playwright Alex Blanc.
   
   Jada’s parents are no longer together. She plays legos with her dad Richard, as he and his new partner Claire shower her with horse-riding lessons and days out in Chessington. Jada’s mum Marie disapproves from a distance. Whilst Richard rejects his Chinese upbringing, Marie embraces it providing what she believes is important, money for Jada’s education, healthcare and upkeep. Parenting isn’t easy, co-parenting is even harder – but they know what’s best for Jada and everything they do is for her – or is it?
   
   Supported by funding from Arts Council England. Tickets for ‘What’s Best for Jada’ available here.
   
   
2. Sunday 12 June 3:30pm (1 hour) at MAST STudio 2 (Tickets £10)
   The Ballad of Mulan by Red Dragonfly Productions
   
   Woman, warrior, legend. For ten years Mulan disguised as a man, has fought for the Chinese Empire. Now the fighting is coming to an end, one last battle and she will be going home – but can she return to her old life, become a woman again. A search for identity in a violent world.
   
   Commissioned by and performed by British-Chinese actress Michelle Yim, developed with the support and funding from Arts Council England. Produced by the team behind Edfringe Sell-Out ‘The Unknown Soldier’ Grist to the Mill, in collaboration with British East Asian theatre company Red Dragonfly Productions, we bring you the real Chinese heroine that inspired Disney’s animation and live-feature Mulan. ‘A powerful exploration of gender, war, and identity, as relevant and timely today as ever. Expect a little humour, a lot of heart and a refreshing focus on the darker aspects of a familiar tale’ ★★★★ Tulpa Magaine, Adelaide Fringe.
   
   Tickets for ‘The Ballad of Mulan’ available here.

 

Announcement at the Visit Southampton Website

 

News from Daily Echo

大家好，
南安華人協會的目標之一是：改善南安普敦市內及周邊華人社區的生活質素；不分性别、政治 或 宗教观点。
協會響應英國政府 正在幫忙剛到南安周邊的香港移民。香港英國國民 (海外) 歡迎計劃 將於 週六 2月26日啟動。歡迎所有香港BNO身份持有者及其家人參加活動，請在以下鏈接註冊：

Dear all,
One of the objectives of the Chinese Association of Southampton is to improve the quality of life for Chinese people living in and around the city of Southampton; without distinction of sex, political or religious opinions.
The association responds to the British government and is helping Hong Kong immigrants who have just arrived around Southampton. The Hong Kong British National (Overseas) Welcome Programme will be launched on Saturday 26/2/2022. All BNO status holders and their families are welcome to attend the event, please register at the link below:

http://www.southamptonchinese.org.uk/hk/event/hk-bno-launch

 

Chinese New Year of the Tiger 2022 at Southampton

The Chinese Association of Southampton and the University of Southampton Confucius Institute once again bring the traditional Chinese New Year celebration to Southampton for welcoming the Year of Tiger in 2022.

CNY22Southampton

This is a community-sponsored free event that aims to share with you the colourful Chinese culture, including traditional lion dance, dragon dance, martial arts and Taichi displays, Chinese music, dances and poems. A range of cultural workshops are also available, including making of lanterns, paper cutting, calligraphy and panda moulding. 

The Lion Heralds the New Year

The preparation for the Chinese New Year will soon be heralded by drums and gongs as lion dance performers rehearse their lion dance to bring good luck and prosperity to the New Year. The Lion’s symbol of power, wisdom, and superior strength plays an important role in Chinese mythology, representing joy and happiness.The lion dance will be performed everywhere, around the world, to bring a festive atmosphere with prosperity and good luck to the New Year. The performance is accompanied by music of beating drums, cymbals, and gongs, instruments that synchronise to the lion dance movements and actions.

 

People often asked “Where did the Chinese lion dance originated?” Most historians believe lion dancing began in the late Han Dynasty (between 206BC – 220 AD), when lions were brought to Northern China from Central Asia as gifts for the emperor. Soon representations of the lion were incorporated into existing traditional dance, where performers mimic a lion’s movement to get rid of the devil and ward off evil spirits.

Come and Join us for the Celebration

We look forward to celebrating the Year of Tiger with you on Sunday 30/1/2022 at Westquay Shopping Centre from 11am.

 

 

 

 

 

Media

• BBC Radio Solent: Facts about Chinese New Year
• BBC Radio Solent: Chinese New Year celebration at Southampton
• ITV News: Celebrations return to the South for Chinese New Year

• That’s TV Solent: We want to build Southampton as a City of Culture

 

Tiger Year Celebration Event

Chinese New Year is the most important festival to the Chinese community that signals the beginning of the spring according to the Chinese Lunar-solar calendar, which is also called the Agricultural Calendar. 

The Chinese Association of Southampton and the University of Southampton Confucius Institute once again brought the traditional Chinese New Year celebration to Southampton for welcoming the Year of Tiger at Westquay on Sunday 30/1/2022, which is two days before the official Chinese New Year day on 1/2/2022. 

This is a community-sponsored free event that aims to share with the public the colourful and rich Chinese culture, through performances and workshops. Over 20 volunteers helped to run and manage the whole event. A long list of 26 performances were presented by about 100 performers from 11am to 3pm on Sunday 30/1/2022. According to Westquay, they have over 45’000 visitors on that Sunday. We estimate that at least 10’000 visitors have watched the performances on stage and participated in the workshops at the open floor.   

This annual event at Westquay is one of the highlights of the city. The Mayor of Southampton Cllr. Alex Houghton, Leader of Southampton City Council Cllr. Dan Fitzhenry, Cllr. Sprios Vassiliou, and the Southampton Police Commander Supt. Simon Dodds were amongst the many invited VIPs. The chairperson of the Chinese Association of Southampton, Prof. Michael Ng, commenced the event by delivering a warm welcome speech to all. The director of the University of Southampton Confucius Institute, Dr. Ying Zheng, also gave a wonderful speech. Cllr. Alex Houghton and Supt. Simon Dodds then delivered their speeches to the audience and greeted the Chinese Community a Happy Chinese New Year.  

The celebration begins with blessings. The scene was full of colors, the shows were great and the audience applaud continuously. The magnificent lion dance and dragon dance came with the joy and blessings of the New Year, which instantly lit the festive atmosphere of the New Year. Chinese Traditional dances and folk dances are colorful, graceful and soft. The melody from Chinese instruments, including erhu, liuqin, guzheng, guqin and bamboo flute, is mellow and refreshing. The Chinese New Year songs are gentle and melodious. The Chinese poem recitations are unique and meaningful.  

The Tai Chi performance flows like clouds and water, showing the unique cultural charm. The Chinese martial arts performance is magnificent and stunning. The Qipao Dance is full of classic style and the performers perfectly show the elegance and beauty of oriental women. The performance is full of Chinese characteristics and is praised by the audience. The audience also enjoy modern drama, piano, clarinet, saxophone and Indian dance. In the last performing item, audience were invited for participating in a live line dancing, which is a very popular dancing exercise in China and far East. 

The stage was full of excitement and the workshops were crowded with people. Red lanterns, calligraphy, paper cutting and panda moulding set off the event scene with joy. The whole event lasted 4 and a half hours and was always filled with a joyous and festive atmosphere. The programmes are full of strong New Year flavor and have attracted many Chinese, overseas Chinese, international students and local people to stop and watch. This well-crafted art program and workshop not only brings joyous and festive feasts to overseas Chinese, but also spreads and promotes traditional Chinese culture.

Michael Ng, Vikkie Cheng and Hongbin Kang

Click the above photo for the full album or see them at Facebook.

 

虎年慶祝活動

農曆新年是華人社區最重要的節日，根據中國曆或稱農曆，標誌著春天的開始。南安普敦華人協會和南安普敦大學孔子學院於 2022 年 1 月 30 日星期日再次將傳統的農曆新年慶祝活動帶到南安普敦，在Westquay迎接虎年，也就是 正式農曆新年 (1/2/2022)的前兩天。

這是一項由社區贊助的免費活動，旨在通過表演和工作坊與公眾分享豐富多彩的中國文化。二十多名志願者幫助運作和管理了整個活動。 2022 年 1 月 30 日星期日上午 11 點至下午 3 點，約有 100 名表演者呈現了 26 場精彩的演出。根據 Westquay 的數據，當天有超過 4萬5千位顧客。我們估計至少有 1萬位顧客 觀看了舞台表演並參加了工作坊。

這一年一度在Westquay舉行的盛事是這城市的亮點之一。眾多受邀貴賓包括 南安普敦市長 Cllr. Alex Houghton,  南安普敦市議會領導 Cllr. Dan Fitzhenry, Cllr. Sprios Vassiliou 和南安普敦警察指揮官 Supt. Simon Dodds。南安普敦華人協會會長黃教授首先向大家發表了熱烈的歡迎致辭。南安普敦大學孔子學院院長鄭英博士也進行了精彩的致辭。 市長 Cllr. Alex Houghton 和 南安普敦警察指揮官 Supt. Simon Dodds 隨後向群眾致辭，恭祝華人社區新春快樂。

新年慶祝在祝福声中拉开帷幕。現場色彩斑斕，表演精彩，觀眾掌聲不斷。氣勢磅礡的舞獅舞龍伴隨著新年的歡樂和祝福而來，瞬間點燃了新年的喜慶氣氛。中國傳統舞蹈和民間舞蹈 豐富多彩，優雅美麗，婉约柔美。中國樂器的旋律，包括二胡、柳琴、古箏、古琴和竹笛，悠扬婉转 又 圓潤清新。農曆新年歌曲輕柔悠揚。中國詩歌朗誦更是獨特和充滿意義。

行云流水的太极表演，展示特有的文化魅力。中國武術表演精彩紛呈。旗袍舞充滿古典韻味，表演者完美地展現了東方女性的優雅與美麗。演出富有中國特色，深受觀眾好評。觀眾還欣賞現代戲劇、鋼琴、單簧管、薩克斯管和印度舞蹈。在最後的表演項目中，觀眾被邀請參加現場排舞，這是在中國和遠東地區非常流行的一種舞蹈運動。

舞台上熱鬧非凡，工作坊里人山人海。紅燈籠、書法、剪紙、熊貓造型，歡樂地襯託了活動現場。整個活動歷時4個半小時，始終洋溢著歡樂喜慶的氣氛。这些充满浓浓年味的节目，吸引了众多华人华侨及留学生和本地民众驻足观看。这场精心制作的文艺节目和工作坊，不仅为身居海外的华人华侨送上欢乐喜庆的节日盛宴 ，同时传播和推广中国传统文化。

黃嵩鈞，鄭慧琪，康洪彬

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