Wang Yuanyuan

    cheekywang@hotmail.com

    EIGHT private art troupes in Shenzhen are expected to offer 10 free performances at Shenzhen International Garden and Flower Expo Park in Futian District in coming weeks.

    Luohu-based Dongfang Baihe Song and Dance Ensemble began the performance series Saturday with a traditional Hakka-style dance show. Shows will follow at 7 p.m. every Saturday until Nov. 2.

    Performances will feature folk dance, musical concerts, Beijing opera, song and dance shows, and children’s shows.

    The free performance series is intended to introduce the city’s private art troupes to residents and increase the amount of local cultural activities, said Lin Qingbo, vice director of the art department of the city’s culture, sports and tourism bureau.

    The series is the bureau’s second promotion of local private art troupes. In February, during the past Spring Festival, the bureau invited six troupes to give 13 performances in the park, attracting nearly 1,000 people.

    “The performances were very well received, so we decided to select more troupes to join the program. As there will be a lot more visitors in the park during the National Day holiday in the beginning of October, we’ve prepared a children’s play, ‘Future Warriors and Transformers,’ for children and parents Oct. 6,” Lin said.

    Free performance programs will be held in the city regularly in the future, Lin said.

    This Saturday’s performance, a male chorus show, will be given by Dongfangyun Cultural Communication Co. The three lead singers are Wan Jianping, Le Hanning and Li Yuanwei. The three men call themselves “Three Gentlemen from the East” and have given more than 100 performances on the mainland, in Hong Kong and Macao since 2009, while winning international and domestic awards.

    They are very adept at blending styles, such as singing Chinese folk songs in Western styles and singing traditional Western songs in pop styles.

    Another performance in the series features Tianyue Ballad Singing Troupe, which will sing folk songs and Chinese operas. The troupe was founded in 2009 and is under the administration of Nanshan District Culture Bureau. It’s working to make Shenzhen a training and performance center for Chinese opera and ballads. The troupe has won several top domestic awards in recent years.

    The only Beijing opera show in the series will be given by Zhenpeng Beijing Opera House. The troupe was established in 2002 and features many top Chinese opera professionals. They’ll perform two well-known fight scenes, “Fighting in Ancient City” and “Fighting in Antian.”

    Another folk dance show, “A Song for Liu Sanjie,” will be given by South China Entertainment & Cultural Development Co. The show will feature classic Chinese folk songs from the well-known movie “Liu Sanjie,” named after a character well-known for singing folk songs.

    Yantian District’s Huilin Art Troupe also will give a dance show, featuring traditional customs of the Yi ethnic group, who mainly inhabit Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan and Guangxi. The show will introduce a traditional wedding ceremony of the Yi people featuring drum dances, bell dances, wedding procedures and fire dances.

    The last performance in the series will be a dance show featuring styles from the Han (202 B.C.-A.D. 220) and Tang (618-907) dynasties by Yuetian Communication Co.