For thousands of years, China has been a feudal society where clothing has been used to indicate social and political status. These conventions are reflected in Chinese opera where elaborate […]
Chinese Opera Costume Workshop Read More »
In Chinese opera, all motion is a form of dance. Movement patterns are fluid, circular and bigger than life. This workshop introduces the basic vocabulary of gestures and postures used on
Chinese Opera Movement Read More »
Chinese shadow performance (“Pi Ying Xi”) has a history going back 2000 years. This theater tradition uses beautifully carved and colored animal-hide figures, manipulated behind cloth screens in order to
Shadow Theater Workshop Read More »
Cross-Cultural Pioneers: American Artists’ Experiences with Peking Opera was Chinese Theatre Works fourth forum in our series focusing on Chinese Opera. This forum focused on the experience of American artists
Cross-Cultural Pioneers: American Artists’ Experiences with Peking Opera Read More »
Preserving traditional culture practices in a changing World is an ongoing process. In 2022, Chinese Theatre Works collaborated with CHINOPERL, the Rewen Society at China Institute, and Center for Theater
Asian-American Puppet Impact Forum Read More »
CTW possesses one of the largest private collections of traditional shadow figures in North America. The Pauline Benton Collection (with over 400 antique Chinese shadow figures, plus archival material, historical
The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry (UConn) Read More »
Pauline Benton revolutionized American puppetry in the 1930’s with performances of the Red Gate Players: the first professional company to perform Chinese shadow theater in North America. Benton collected traditional
Pauline Benton Collection Read More »
Triple Zhongkui Pageant is a unique piece of theater that blends several CTW performance styles. This production is at once a lively piece of bilingual street theater, a demonstration of
Triple Zhongkui Pageant (Premiere 2021) Read More »
Traditional Chinese shadow puppetry is one of China’s most spectacular folk arts and representative of UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Despite its enduring history dating back to Han Dynasty,
3 Women, Many Plays: One Hundred Years of Shadow Theater History in the U.S.A. Read More »
In 2019, International Spy Museum (Washington DC) invited CTW to use classic shadow puppets, alongside modern light and shadow theater techniques, in order to retell the story “Goujian and the
Goujian and the Boiled Seeds (Premiere 2019) Read More »