Step Out Arts presents its annual Lunar New Year celebration "Jie qing 2005". This year the Wu Gong Chang Dance Company (also called DanceWork) from Taiwan, sponsored by the Cultural Division of the Taipei Representative Office in the UK, will join with London based Taiwanese artists to produce spectacular performances of traditional and innovational folk dance. In addition to performing throughout the country, they will visit over 26 schools throughout South East London where they will present a series of performances and workshops. The Wu Gong Chang Dance Company, founded in 2000, is an all neo-spirit dance group from Taiwan, facing the great challenges of the rapidly changing arts environment and stretching across traditional to modern form, touching audiences of all races, ages and tastes. The backgrounds of the dancers range from modern dance to martial exercises, aesthetic principle, Chinese tradition music, drama and visual art for theater, and combine together within their performances to succeed in bringing an all-new experience for the audiences. They have been invited to perform overseas from England to Macao. After their successful 2002 tour in cooperation with Step Out Arts, this is their second time performing in the UK. For further information regarding the Wu Gong Chang Dance Company, please visit their website at http://dw.taipeikick.com.tw/

For performances, the complete schedule is as follows:

EVENT TIMETABLE

6th Feb 2005
Trafford Centre. Manchester
Time: 2-4pm
Fee: Free
Contact number: 0161 7467777

7th Feb 2005
King's Lynn Corn Exchange, King's Lynn, Norfolk
Time: 5pm and 8pm
Price: £14.50 (adult) £7.50 (Children) £42.00 (Family of 4) £28.00 (Family of 3)
Box Office: 01553 764864 or on line at www.kingslynncornexchange.co.uk

10th Feb 2005
Studio Theatre, North Westminster Community School
North Wharf Road , London W2 1LF
Time: 7.30pm
Box Office: 020 7641 8424
Tickets: £6 / £4 concession

12th Feb 2005
Hounslow Chinese Association
Venue: Paul Robeson Theatre, Treaty Centre
Time: 2-4pm
Fee: Adult £5 / Children £3
Box Office: 020 8583 2345

13 Feb 2005
National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, SE10 9NF
Fee: Free
Contact name: Emma Clarke
Phone number: 020 8312 6643
website details: www.nmm.ac.uk/learning

12.30-13.00 Performance: Wu Gong Chan Dance Company

13.15 Chinese Dance Workshop

14.00 Chinese Mask and flag making Workshop

15.00-15.30 Performance: Wu Gong Chan Dance Company

15.45 Chinese Calligraphy Workshop

For further information please contact directly with Jih-Wen Yeh, Artistic Director of Step Out Arts.  tel: 020-8854 2316; e-mail: stepoutarts@breathemail.net; website: http://www.stepoutarts.co.uk

Cultural Division, Taipei Representative Office in the U.K.

  Suite 3, 73 / 75 Mortimer Street, London W1W 7SQ, United Kingdom
Tel: 020 7436 5888   b   Fax: 020 7436 2605