Indulging in the arts at Lincoln Center: La vie parisienne and Dragon Boat Racing

Lola Cristall/14.18

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Chris Lee

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藝想天成文化傳媒

Above, from top Makato Ozone on piano at La vie parisienne at Lincoln Center. The New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Dragon Boat Racing presented by the Guangdong Song and Dance Ensemble.

There were many ways to ring in the New Year but one sophisticated approach saw melodious tunes and laughter. The New York Philharmonic celebrated in style with La vie parisienne at the David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center. The beautifully organized spectacle paid homage to the spectacular city of lights with poetic tales and songs in both French and English. The talented comedian and two-time Tony winner Nathan Lane narrated Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of Animals, written by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin, adding humour and irony with each animal symbolizing a New York figure. Alan Gilbert energetically conducted the performance while Inon Barnatan and Makoto Ozone were the magnificent pianists of the soirée. Mezzo-soprano Susan Graham sang uplifting songs including ‘C’est ça la vie, c’est ça l’amour’ from Toi c’est moi, ‘Ah! que j’aime les militaires’ from La Grande Duchesse de Gerolstein and Edith Piaf’s ‘La vie en rose’. As 2016 fast approached, guests stood up to sing the French national anthem, La Marseillaise, while a large glimmering image of the Eiffel Tower reflected in the background. The setting was a marvellous escape into an evening à la française with a joyful, energetic and a high-spirited crowd impatiently waiting for the New Year to emerge.
From a conductor’s baton to a dancer’s fast paced feet, Lincoln Center is the home of such performances. The beginning of January marked a memorable occasion to celebrate a talented group of dancers, during the China Arts and Entertainment Group’s Dragon Boat Racingpresented by the Guangdong Song and Dance Ensemble. Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater welcomed the limited-time presentation to the stage. They featured phenomenal choreographed dance moves to the tune of traditional Cantonese music. The majestic ambiance was exquisite. Directed and choreographed by Zhou Liya and Han Zhen with music by Du Ming and scenario by Tang Dong, the spectacle blends the beauty of traditional and contemporary features on one stage, as the artistry of the east meets the modernity of the west. The production was vibrant and uplifting, as the dancers conveyed a love story where the main character, Nian (Li Xing), is torn between Ling (Li Yanchao), the woman he adores, and Ying (Wang Minrui), the woman Nian’s father wants his son to marry. The feud and adoration are expressed through the performers’ agility while the melody underlined the story’s elements.—Lola Cristall, Paris Editor

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