SPECIAL EVENTS

Co-Sponsored by Dance Salad Festival and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the 2011 Festival week starts with the 9th Annual Dance Salad Festival Choreographers' Forum: Conversation, which will take place Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 6:30pm in the MFAH’s Brown Auditorium, Caroline Wiess Law Building.

This year's Forum, featuring Choreographers from Asia---Willy Tsao from Hong Kong, Li Hanzhong from Beijing, China, Sang Jijia, born in Tibet, now living in China, and Nai Ni Chen, Chinese American based in New York, born and raised in Taiwan--will be moderated by Maggie Foyer, from Dance Europe in London and will offer a special opportunity to glimpse these artists' creative process, hear their points of view and to see film clips of their work.

Beijing Dance / LDTX, under the artistic direction of Willy Tsao—China’s foremost figure in modern dance—and deputy artistic director Li Hanzhong, brings multiple selections to Houston audiences this year, including the signature piece All River Red, a powerful reinterpretation of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, and Sang Jijia’s Standing Before Darkness. Chinese American choreographer Nai-Ni Chen, whose work fuses the dynamic freedom of American modern dance with the elegance of Asian art, collaborates with the Ahn Trio from Korea to present a new version of Temptation of the Muses.

This event is generously co-sponsored by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, more info at lectures@mfah.org.  A reception will follow in the lobby of the Museum.

The 2011 Dance Salad Festival takes place April 21, 22, and 23 at Wortham Center. Visit www.dancesalad.org  for information and to purchase tickets online.

Pictured:  Bejing Dance / LDTX performs "All River Red." Choreography by Li Han-zhong and Ma Bo.