NUS Chinese Dance @ ACM's Manchu Mania!

The NUS Chinese Dance group performed at the Asian Civilisation Museum's Manchu Mania! event last weekend. The event was held in conjunction with the opening Kangxi exhibition by ACM.

The dancers wore Qing dynasty costumes complete with pigtails for the guys and ancient high heels for the girls, performing their piece from Dance Reflections 2008. They sashayed and leapt around in front of a huge portrait of Kangxi emperor, bringing to mind Qing court dancers.

The audience were visibly enthralled by the dancers and the eyes of the children present were fixated upon the colourful costumes worn. After the dance items; our dancers kept getting requests from the audience to pose for photos with them. One of our alumni dancers even joked that the dancers should pose for an extra buck! Of course, the dancers were game and spontaneous, posing readily (and of course free of charge :P) with the excited guests upon request.

---> NUS CD alumni Jiepei explaining about the ladies' high shoes to the audience

One of the ACM staff, Raj, remarked that he was impressed by the dancers, especially the male dancers who showed their prowess in the guys segment. It was informative and educational for the guests who turned up for the performance at the Shaw foyer at the museum; it could be the first time for some of them to see a Qing court dance!

In between the performances, the dancers relaxed in the dressing room and made friends with the little wushu performers from the event!