Chen Danning

巴拿馬當(dāng)?shù)赜^眾熱情地跟劇組合影。Local people take a photo with some dancers from Hangzhou.

Commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism， Hangzhou Opera & Dance Theater staged ， a dance drama whose production got financial support from a national foundation， in both New York State， USA and Panama in November 2018. In addition to the cities of Purchase in the New York State， USA and Panama， the troupe from Hangzhou has staged the dance drama in the cities of France， German， Egypt， and Greek， cities all connected with a canal.

The first show in November was held on the Purchase College campus of the Stage University of New York. The show was a huge success. The next day， Cui Wei， the director of the drama， and her dancers visited the Erie Canal， which was the second longest canal in the world after the Grand Canal in China and greatly affected the development and economy of New York， New York City and the United States.

William Sweitzer， Director of Marketing of NYS Canal Corporation， received Cui and her colleagues. Excited， Mr. Sweitzer said that Cui and her colleagues were the first Chinese visitors who came to see the Erie Canal， the source of the prosperity New York State has enjoyed for more than a century. He explained that most Chinese tourists came to see well-known New York landmarks such as Wall Street， Time Square， Broadway， etc. Mr. Sweitzer presented Cu Wei with a stone from the Erie Canal. He signed his name on the stone and hoped it would be a souvenir for her visit to the canals of the world.

Cui and her dancers once brought some water from the Grand Canal in Hangzhou to Europe. The gift stone from the Erie Canal is now in Hangzhou. “We are artists， but I feel much closer to those who built canals in different parts of the world thanks to my visits. What we do is cultural exchanges， which serve as a canal bringing the whole world together，” said the choreographer based in Hangzhou.

The show in Panama was held on the evening of November 18， 2018 at Figali Convention Center， an indoor sports arena with a capacity of 10，275 seats. Built in 2003， it has been used mainly for sport events and concerts. It has hosted concerts staged by Metallica， Shakira， Miley Cyrus， Jennifer Lopez， Katy Perry and Justin Bieber.

On the evening of November 18， over 6，000 people appeared at the convention center to watch ， creating a record of the largest audience number for the dance drama since its premiere in Hangzhou in 2014.

“This drama vividly indicates that cultural relics are like family members we must protect，” commented Alexandra Schjelderup， director of culture and education administration of Panama City.

The successful performance of the dance drama in European countries has opened Cuis eyes to the universal appeal of the drama. She now firmly believes that the story about the Grand Canal of China is also about the canals all over the world. The experience in USA and Panama further solidified her conviction. The American audiences responded to the drama enthusiastically. Some said they could easily understand the storyline and the drama enabled them to better appreciate the role the Erie Canal had played in the prosperity of New York. Some remarked that the thrilling performance made them interested in Chinese culture.

“The dance drama is a cultural expression about environmental protection and sustainable development. The artists are serving as a canal： creating a fusion of west and east through art，” commented Qian Jin， Deputy Consul-General of Chinese Consulate in New York.

After USA and Panama，? will be performed in Russia and Sweden as part of the global canal tour of the troupe based in Hangzhou.