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littlepeargdc

Contemporary and Chinese classical dance company, based in Toronto. Artistic director Emily Cheung.

"The Duel" 对弈, our new dance video We are exc

"The Duel" 对弈, our new dance video

We are excited to premiere our next dance video production "The Duel" on Thu Nov 25th. Choreographed by our Associate Artistic Director Yi Yuan , this video demanded us to rise up before dawn and shoot on locations. It was challenging as the dancers had to dress up in thinly veiled costumes on a cold morning, and paddled through chilly waters to get to the other side of the sand bank without falling over, all for the sake of the arts. We hope you will enjoy the video as much as we did.

Artistic Director - Emily Cheung @emdancelpgc
Choreographer - Yi Yuan @yyyuanyii
Dancers - Jiapei Ma @jiapeipei131 , Yi Yuan
Videographer/Editor - Chen Zhang @benbenzhang21
Photographer/Graphic Design - Victor Tan @victoratlarge

Little Pear Garden is publicly funded by Canada Council for the Arts @canada.council , Ontario Arts Council @ontarioartscouncil , and Toronto Arts Council @torontoartscouncil .

#throwbackthursday , Emily Cheung @emdancelpgc ho

#throwbackthursday , Emily Cheung @emdancelpgc hosted the Little Pear Garden performance 17 years ago, which was under the artistic direction of Wiliam Lau. In 2004, Little Pear was a collective and primarily performed Peking Opera.

Happy Halloween from our most monstrous creation -

Happy Halloween from our most monstrous creation - <Venom of Love>

Choreographer - Emily Cheung @emdancelpgc
Makeup artist - Marissa Clemence @marissaclemence

Photos by
Maylynn Quan @maylynnquan
Victor Tan @victoratlarge

We are deeply grateful to be recognized by TINFF @

We are deeply grateful to be recognized by TINFF @tinffestival film festival! 🎉🎉🎉

Congratulations to our artistic director Emily Cheung @emdancelpgc and film director Chen Zhang @benbenzhang21! 🎉🎉🎉
and our fantastic dancers Falciony Patino Cruz @falciony
, Sebastian Hirtenstein @bash416ix, Jiapei Ma @jiapeipei131 and Yui Ugai @yuioxoxox !

And thank you Yi Yuan @yyyuanyii for the beautiful performance!

Little Pear Garden is publicly funded by Canada Council for the Arts @canada.council , Ontario Arts Council @ontarioartscouncil and Toronto Arts Council @torontoartscouncil .

TINFF Toronto International Nollywood Film Festiva

TINFF Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival nominated Little Pear Garden's "Unleashed" for the best dance video category.

Artistic Director: Emily Cheung @emdancelpgc
Video Director/Videographer: Chen Zhang @benbenzhang21
Dancers: Falciony Patiño Cruz
@falciony , Sebastian Bash Hirtenstein
@bash416ix , Jiapei Ma (AAD) @jiapeipei131 , Yui Ugai @yuioxoxox

Little Pear Garden is publicly funded by Canada Council for the Arts @canada.council , Ontario Arts Council @ontarioartscouncil , Toronto Arts Council @torontoartscouncil

TINFF Toronto International Nollywood Film Festiva

TINFF Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival nominated Little Pear Garden's "Unleashed" for the best dance video category.

Our Associated Artistic Director Yi Yuan @yyyuanyii will perform in tomorrow's award ceremony.

Wish us luck! 🎉

"Locked" - the Look Peacock Gent Artistic Directo

"Locked" - the Look
Peacock Gent

Artistic Director - Emily Cheung @emdancelpgc
Image Designer - Yang Li Ping
Markup Artists - Cindy Chang @cindychang081 , Yuliya Xu @yuliyamimi
Dancer - Brendan De Santis
Photos - Victor Tan @victoratlarge

Little Pear Garden is publicly funded by Canada Councl for the Arts @canada.council , Ontario Arts Council @ontarioartscouncil , and Toronto Arts Council @torontoartscouncil .

"Locked" - the Look Peacock Lady Artistic Directo

"Locked" - the Look
Peacock Lady

Artistic Director - Emily Cheung @emdancelpgc
Image Designer - Cindy Chang @cindychang081
Markup Artists - Cindy Chang, Yuliya Xu @yuliyamimi
Dancer - Yi Yuan @yyyuanyii
Photos - Victor Tan @victoratlarge

Little Pear Garden is publicly funded by Canada Councl for the Arts @canada.council , Ontario Arts Council @ontarioartscouncil , and Toronto Arts Council @torontoartscouncil .

"Locked" - the Look Classical Gent Artistic Direc

"Locked" - the Look
Classical Gent

Artistic Director - Emily Cheung @emdancelpgc
Image Designer - Cindy Chang @cindychang081
Markup Artists - Cindy Chang, Yuliya Xu @yuliyamimi
Dancer - Nan Wang @nan.wang.9421
Photos - Victor Tan @victoratlarge

Little Pear Garden is publicly funded by Canada Councl for the Arts @canada.council , Ontario Arts Council @ontarioartscouncil , and Toronto Arts Council @torontoartscouncil .

"Locked" - the Look Classical Lady Artistic Direc

"Locked" - the Look
Classical Lady

Artistic Director - Emily Cheung @emdancelpgc
Image Designer - Cindy Chang @cindychang081
Markup Artists - Cindy Chang, Yuliya Xu @yuliyamimi
Dancer - Koren Lui @dancing_giraffe
Photos - Victor Tan @victoratlarge

Little Pear Garden is publicly funded by Canada Councl for the Arts @canada.council , Ontario Arts Council @ontarioartscouncil , and Toronto Arts Council @torontoartscouncil .

"Locked" - the Look Dunhuang Deity Artistic Direc

"Locked" - the Look
Dunhuang Deity

Artistic Director - Emily Cheung @emdancelpgc
Image Designer - Cindy Chang @cindychang081
Markup Artists - Cindy Chang, Yuliya Xu @yuliyamimi
Dancer - Emilio Colalillo @emiliooo92
Photos - Victor Tan @victoratlarge

Little Pear Garden is publicly funded by Canada Councl for the Arts @canada.council , Ontario Arts Council @ontarioartscouncil , and Toronto Arts Council @torontoartscouncil .

"Locked" - the Look Female Shaman Artistic Direct

"Locked" - the Look
Female Shaman

Artistic Director - Emily Cheung @emdancelpgc
Image Designer - Cindy Chang @cindychang081
Markup Artists - Cindy Chang, Yuliya Xu @yuliyamimi
Dancer - Alena Loboda @alenaballerina
Photos - Victor Tan @victoratlarge

Little Pear Garden is publicly funded by Canada Councl for the Arts @canada.council , Ontario Arts Council @ontarioartscouncil , and Toronto Arts Council @torontoartscouncil .

"Locked" - the Look Terracotta Soldier Artistic D

"Locked" - the Look
Terracotta Soldier

Artistic Director - Emily Cheung @emdancelpgc
Image Designer - Cindy Chang @cindychang081
Markup Artists - Cindy Chang, Yuliya Xu @yuliyamimi
Dancer - Benjamin W. Russell @1benrussell
Photos - Victor Tan @victoratlarge

Little Pear Garden is publicly funded by Canada Councl for the Arts @canada.council , Ontario Arts Council @ontarioartscouncil , and Toronto Arts Council @torontoartscouncil .

"Locked" - the Look Peking Opera Artistic Directo

"Locked" - the Look
Peking Opera

Artistic Director - Emily Cheung @emdancelpgc
Image Designer - Cindy Chang @cindychang081
Markup Artists - Cindy Chang, Yuliya Xu @yuliyamimi
Dancer - Anastasia Loskutov @nastialosk
Photos - Victor Tan @victoratlarge

Little Pear Garden is publicly funded by Canada Councl for the Arts @@canada.council , Ontario Arts Council @ontarioartscouncil , and Toronto Arts Council @torontoartscouncil .

"Locked" full cast. The amazing artistry of our d

"Locked" full cast.

The amazing artistry of our designer and makeup artists 💄!

Artistic Director: Emily Cheung @emdancelpgc
Image Designer: Cindy Chang @cindychang081
Makeup Artists: Cindy Chang, Yuliya Xu @yuliyamimi

Dancers (clockwise from top right)
Koren Lui @dancing_giraffe
Nan Wang @nan.wang.9421
Alena Loboda @alenaballerina
Yi Yuan @yyyuanyii
Benjamin Russell @1benrussell
Brendan De Santis @bdjames2
Emilio Colalillo @emiliooo92
Anastasia Loskutov @nastia.losk

Photos by Victor Tan @victoratlarge

Production staff: Isaac Tan

Little Pear Garden is publicly funded by Canada Council for the Arts @canada.council , Ontario Arts Council @ontarioartscouncil , Toronto Arts Council @torontoartscouncil

Our artistic director Emily Cheng has joined the b

Our artistic director Emily Cheng has joined the board of Dance Ontario along with other amazing artists!

DID YOU KNOW In ancient times, the Mid-Autumn Fes

DID YOU KNOW

In ancient times, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also considered Valentine's Day like the Qixi Festival (Double Seventh Festival). It was rooted in a legend of the old man under the moon (月老 yuè lǎo ), who is in charge of love and marriage of all people through his red threads which can bind two people into a relationship!

Mid-Autumn Festival is so-named as it is held on the 15th of the 8th lunar month in the Chinese calendar around the autumn equinox.

For the Cantonese people in Hong Kong and Guang Dong province, because the moon on 15th of the 8th lunar month is so round that they also use the date Eighth Month 15th as a nickname for buttock.

Now you know. Happy Mid Autumn Festival, and don't forget to check out our world premiere tonight at 7pm. You can follow the link in our bio in IG, or copy and paste this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IDN8ab3eWs

In photo: Emily Cheung @emdancelpgc

Little Pear Garden is publicly funded by Canada Council for the Arts @canada.council , Ontario Arts Council @ontarioartscouncil , and Toronto Arts Council @torontoartscouncil

#midautumnfestival #moonfestival

Legend of Chang'E presentation On Tuesday night,

Legend of Chang'E presentation

On Tuesday night, Sep 21st, at 7pm, follow the link in our bio (IG) to watch the world premiere of this music/dance production by PhoeNX Ensemble @phoenxensemble, in collaboration with Little Pear Garden.

When the earth was still young, there were ten suns in the sky. It was extremely hot all the time and there was no such thing as night. The extreme heat made it hard to farm crops and endangered entire populations.

One day, a skilled archer named Hou Yi (后羿) decided that enough was enough. He raised his bow to the heavens and shot down nine of the ten suns. To reward him for his heroic deeds, the goddess Xi Wang Mu (西王母) gave him an elixir of immortality, a prize typically reserved for immortals who had achieved enlightenment.

While Hou Yi was grateful for the gift, he felt conflicted. Xiwangmu had only given him enough elixir for one person, and he did not wish to be immortal if his wife could not live at his side for eternity. Ultimately, Hou Yi decided to remain mortal and hide the elixir under his bed.

One day a villain tries to steal the potion, Houyi's wife Chang'e drinks it to prevent the thief from getting it. The drink causes her to ascend to the moon, where she only has the companionship of Jade Rabbit as she waits for Houyi.

Hou Yi began to miss his wife. He would often stare up at the moon and think about how lonely Chang’e must be. In the hopes that it might make Chang’e feel less alone (and to show that he was no longer mad at her), Hou Yi started leaving her favorite desserts and fruits out every night. He continued this practice until the day he died. This tradition continues today, as many people leave annual offerings to Chang’e during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Little Pear Garden is publicly funded by Canada Council for the Arts @canada.council
Ontario Arts Council @ontarioartscouncil
and Toronto Arts Council @torontoartscouncil

Cirrus Clouds, Vague Moonlight and the First Falli

Cirrus Clouds, Vague Moonlight and the First Falling Plum Flowers
—————
During the Wei Dynasty 魏, Jin Dynasty 晉 and the Southern/Northern dynasties 南北朝 in China, it was all about the Roman Empire in Europe - the completion of jurisprudence, civil war, Augustine, Christianity became official religion and the last Western Roman emperor was expelled.

In the mean time, China went through her own chaotic period of political instability. Yet it was during these uncertain times that four female literati emerged, and became extraordinary symbols of feminism in early Chinese history.

This dance is based on Ms. Xie Daoyun 謝道韞, one of the female literati. Choreographer/dancer Xinmei Zou depicted Ms. Xie as such: thin clouds and vague moonlight illuminating her elegant appearance, graceful character and charming manners; falling plum flowers and first snow reflecting her unadulterated mind, esoteric reasoning and outstanding quality of Wei-Jin romanticism. With the concept of female scholars in the ancient time being rare, this piece showcases movements that remind audience of brush calligraphy and painting.

Choreographer/Dancer - Xinmei Zou @xmmx_0608
Artistic Director - Emily Cheung @emdancelpgc

Photos by Victor Tan @victoratlarge

Little Pear Garden is publicly funded by Canada Council for the Arts @canada.council , Ontario Arts Council @ontarioartscouncil , and Toronto Arts Council @torontoartscouncil .

#dancetoronto #dancer #chinesedance

The Sculptures of Dance Aesthetics, Tang dynasty -

The Sculptures of Dance Aesthetics, Tang dynasty -

During the Tang Dynasty's 300 years rein, Europe went through the conquest of Spain by the Muslims, battle of Tours, coronation of Charlemagne, and treaty of Verdun.

No one really knows the exact Tang choreography anymore. However, through the effort of archeology research, with some creativity and imagination, the artists in China were able to codify a style which conveys the essence of the glorious era of Tang culture, and help the audience visualize what Tang Dynasty could have been.

Dancer: Yi Yuan AAD @yyyuanyii
Choreographer: Fang Wang @wangfang1002
Artistic Director: Emily Cheung @emdancelpgc

Photos by Victor Tan @victoratlarge

Little Pear Garden is funded by Canada Council for the Arts @canada.council , Ontario Arts Council @ontarioartscouncil , and Toronto Arts Council @torontoartscouncil .

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