An experimental performance of the dance drama Toki (Red Ibis), planned by the CPAFFC, Publicity Department of CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and SMEG Performing Arts Group was put on the stage of Shanghai Oriental Art Center on the evening of April 18th . Mme. Li Xiaolin, President of the CPAFFC, Mr. Xu Lin, Director General of Publicity Department of CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, Mr. Chen Dong, Deputy Director General of Publicity Department of CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee, Mr. Ohara Masahiro, Consul-General of Japan in Shanghai and representatives of council members of Min-On Concert Association, totaled over 1,000 people watched the performance.
This project was launched in 2012 for commemorating 40th anniversary of normalization of relations between China and Japan. Under the concern and direction of President Li Xiaolin, the main staff visited Yang County in Shaanxi and Sado in Japan several times to collect material. After 2 years’ compromise and revision, the large-scale dance drama Toki was finally unveiled to the audience. As President Li Xiaolin said in her speech, Toki was beyond the relations between China and Japan. It emphasized the harmony between human and animal, human and nature, human and human, and reflected human’s longing for peace.
In the afternoon of the same day, Shanghai Song and Dance Ensemble signed a letter of intent on performance of Toki in Japan, with Min-On Concert Association. The Cultural Exchange Department of CPAFFC signed an MOU with SMEG Performing Arts Group.
