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Community Corner

Chinese Music and Dance on Full Display

Huntington residents treated to artful show at public library.

Huntington residents were treated to the unique sounds and movements of the artists from Chinese Theatre Works who performed the music and dance of China at the Huntington Public Library on Saturday.

Jun Ling Wang and Li li Gun played musical instruments know as the “guzheng” and “yangqin” while Ma Gin showed off her exquisite Chinese folk dance moves before a captivated audience of children and adults.

“We love to perform,” said Ma Gin, who recently came to the United States from Beijing. She apologized for her English but her elegant dance moves needed no interpretation. The performance coincided with the Chinese New Year. 

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Jun Ling Wang and Li li Gun teach at Chinese-based music schools in Flushing, Queens, and have been performing together in front of groups for six years. Ma Gin has danced professionally for 9 years, the last four in the U.S.

The musical instruments on display were unlike anything most Americans have ever seen; the music emanating from them were awesome. The “guzheng,” or Chinese plucked zither, has 16 to 18 strings and movable bridges. There are many techniques used in the playing of the instrument, including basic plucking actions at the right portion and pressing actions at the left portion. These techniques create a wide spectrum of sounds including that of a cascading waterfall, thunder, or horses’ hooves. The plucking is done primarily by the right hand with four picks attached to the fingers.

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The “yangqin” has existed for more than 2000 years, according to li Gun. Since the 1950s, however, steel alloy strings (used with copper-wound steel strings for the bass notes) have given the instrument a brighter and louder tone. “It’s like a piano inside,” li Gun said. The modern yangqin can have as many as five courses of bridges. The instrument’s 144 strings are struck with two lightweight bamboo beaters (also known as hammers) with rubber tips. Li Gun carried several sets of beaters, each of which produces a slightly different tone from the instrument, much like the drum sticks of Western percussionists.

Ma Gin’s Chinese folk dance required both eloquence and athleticism. After her first dance, which lasted about 5 minutes, she needed time to rest before the next dance. The early Chinese folk dances were often ritual enactments of superstitious beliefs performed in the hope of a good harvest. Ma Gin’s folk dance was merely dazzlingly in its grace and pageantry.

“We hope everyone enjoyed the show,” Jun Ling Wang said.

Judging by the applause, the audience had a wonderful time.

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