Caldwell Fine Arts 2010-2011 Season

March 8
Tuesday, 7:30 pm

$18 - $22 adult; $12 - $16 student
Upper level seats are listed first.
Includes tax. Group rates $2 off for 10 and $3 for 20. Handling fee is $2 per order.

The Golden Dragon Acrobats represent the best of a time-honored tradition that began more than twenty-seven centuries ago. Direct from Hebei, China, the company has traveled around the world to all 50 states and to over 65 countries on five continents. And has garnered international acclaim.

The performers have trained in the rigorous art of acrobatics since early youth. The Golden Dragon Acrobats have been presented with several major awards over the company’s history including the National Association of Campus Activities (NACA) Entertainer of the Year Award and the Campus Activities Today’s Performer of the Year Award.

The reputation of the company is solidly rooted in a commitment to the highest of production values and an attention to artistic details that is unparalleled in the art form. World renowned impresario Danny Chang and choreographer Angela Chang combine award-winning acrobatics, traditional dance, spectacular costumes, ancient and contemporary music and theatrical techniques to present a show of breathtaking skill and spellbinding beauty.

Acclaim and Dedication Like No Others
The 2010-11 tour will mark the 33rd year of continuous touring in the United States for the Golden Dragon Acrobats. With the company's main office based in Dallas, TX, the Golden Dragons have traveled around the world to all 50 states and to over 65 countries on five continents. The members of the current touring company, hailing from Hebei, China, have performed in all 48 lower U.S. states within the last four years to sold out audiences in nearly every major market in the country. The Golden Dragons remain the ONLY Chinese acrobatic company touring year-round in the United States.

The response received from those who have presented the Golden Dragons is nothing short of overwhelming.

In my twenty years of presenting, I have presented in my venues at least six different acrobatic troupes. The Golden Dragon Acrobats were by far the easiest to work with and highest quality I have seen so far. -- Bill Fisher, Executive Director;Alberta Bair Theater, Billings, MT

Founding History
Lien Chi Chang officially established the Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats in 1967 with his family whose member included Danny Chang, his sister and other students. From 1967 to 1984, Lien Chi led the company to numerous performances in different nations. The Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats dazzled audiences range from 8 years old kids to 80 years old seniors all across the globe. Danny Chang, often traveled with his father’s Golden Dragon Acrobats, was later chosen by the National Acrobats Troupe of Republic of China to lead the various world tour produced by the most prestige acrobat school in Taiwan.

After more than 17 years of apprenticeship under his dad and several years of the world tour, Danny Chang was ready to step up as the President of the Golden Dragon Acrobats when Lien Chi Chang accepted the head-coaching job at the National Taiwan College of Performing Arts. As a young entrepreneur, Danny showed tremendous passion toward the acrobatic arts. His first goal was to reorganize the company from a small group to a world-renowned production company. He chose the United States of America as his starting point. With Mr. Bill Fegan’s assistance, the Golden Dragon Acrobats debuted in 1985. Fegan is a former instructor at the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation at Princeton New Jersey. He is a former director of the New Mexico Humanities Council and is the 2007 recipient of the New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. (He was the artist manager who first brought the Mr. Jack Daniel’s Silver Cornet Band to the attention of Caldwell Fine Arts.)

The Golden Dragon Acrobats count among their distinctions being a seven-time recipient of the National Association of Campus Activities Entertainer of the Year Award, the Campus Activities Today’s Performer of the Year Award and in 2005, two most prestigious New York Drama Desk Award nominations for their Broadway performances -- Danny Chang for Unique Theatrical Experience and Angela Chang for Best Choreography.

In recent years, individual members of the Golden Dragons have been recipients of awards at the Henan Regional Acrobatic Competition, the China National Acrobatic Competition, the National Teen Acrobatic Competition, the Italian National Acrobatic Competition, the International Young Adult Acrobatic Competition in Japan and the Presidents Award at the International Acrobatic Competition, and have performed for President Bill Clinton and other leaders at the APEC meeting in Shanghai, China.

Recent Tour Highlights
The company is most honored to have performed in the nation’s capital, twice at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and for a six-week engagement at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. In addition to a six-week Broadway engagement at the New Victory Theater in New York City, other major Northeast venues played in recent years include Boston Symphony Hall (MA), Princeton University (NJ), New York City Parks Department (NY), Flynn Center for the Performing Arts (Burlington, VT) and Palace Theater (Manchester, NH). Major recent engagements in the Southeast include the Robert W. Woodruff Arts Center (Atlanta, GA), Koger Center for the Arts (Columbia, SC), Martin Luther King, Jr. Performing Arts Center (Charlottesville, VA), Lexington Center for the Arts (KY) and the Broward Center for the Arts (Fort Lauderdale, FL). Major recent Midwest engagements include repeat performances for the past six years at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts (Skokie, IL), Cincinnati Arts Association (OH), Music Hall Center for the Arts (Detroit, MI), Lied Center for Performing Arts (Lincoln, NE) and the Pike Performing Arts Center (Indianapolis, IN). Major recent Southwest engagements include Paramount Theater (Austin, TX), Miller Theater (Houston, TX), Popejoy Hall (Albuquerque, NM), Pikes Peak Center (Colorado Springs, CO) and the Orpheum Theater (Phoenix, AZ). Major recent West Coast engagements include repeated performances at Cal Performances, University of Berkeley (CA), Wells Fargo Center for the Arts (Santa Rosa, CA), Elsinore Theater (Salem, OR), Edmonds Center for the Performing Arts (WA) and the Velma Morrison Center for the Performing Arts (Boise, ID).

www.goldenacrobats.com

Golden Dragon Acrobats from China