An E-letter for family and friends of Slippery Rock University

Vol. 3 Issue 17
July 16, 2010

SRU Performing Arts Series
offers flying acrobats, extras

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. - There will be colorful, spinning umbrellas, cleverly balanced chairs and flying people when the Golden Dragon Acrobats open Slippery Rock University's 2010-11 Performing Arts Series Sept. 10.

Season and individual tickets to the four-performance series and a number of special cultural events are now available. All four series shows are at 7:30 p.m. in Miller Auditorium. Reservations for special pre-performance dinners, offered by AVI, the campus contract food vendor, are also available.

The Golden Dragon Acrobats will bring the best of the time-honored tradition of acrobatics to SRU. The first such shows began more than 2,500 years ago.

Founded in 1967 by Lien Chi Chang, the group was taken over by his son Danny Chin Chang Chang in 1984 when the elder Chang was named head coach at the National Taiwan College of Performing Arts.

The younger Chang, who began his acrobat career at age 7, reorganized the company and began a series of national tours that included performances on Broadway.

As director and producer, Chang built a solid reputation based on his talents as both an acrobatic performer and artistic director. His wife, Angela Chang, serves as the troupe's choreographer.

"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," Chang said.

"This is a very entertaining show meant for the entire family," said Deborah Baker, SRU director of special events. "In addition to traditional dance and acrobatics, the show offers spectacular costumes, ancient and contemporary music and theatrical techniques that give the audience a show of breathtaking skill and spellbinding beauty."

The award-winning Golden Dragon Acrobats has performed in all 50 states as part of its annual 200-perforamance per-year schedule. Recent stops include the John F. Kennedy Center and the Ford Theater in Washington, D.C.

The troupe has been the recipient of the National Association of Campus Activities Entertainer of the Year Award seven times, has earned the Campus Activities Today's Performer of the Year Award and two New York Drama Desk Award nominations for its Broadway performances.

Other performances in the SRU series are: "Ailey II," from the famed Alvin Ailey Dance Company, Oct. 29; "Scrooge in Concert, a revival of Charles Dickens' beloved Christmas story, Dec. 2; and "From Galway to Broadway, offering tenor Ciaran Sheehan and soprano Gay Willis in a tribute to Irish music, March 18.

Season reserve-seat tickets for the series may be ordered by calling 724.738.2018. Tickets are $74 for adults, $66 for those ages 17 and younger and 62 and older, and $28 for SRU students. Individual event tickets will go on sale Aug. 2.

SRU is also offering a series of travel excursions:

* Nov. 13, a daylong trip to Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Tickets including transportation, box lunch and museum entrance are $44 for adults; $28 for those ages 9 through college; and $42 for those 65 and older. Departure from the Russell Wright Alumni House and Conference Center is at 10:15 a.m.

* April 15, a visit to the 8 p.m. "Disney in Concert" performance by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra PNC Pops at Pittsburgh's Heinz Hall. Tickets, including transportation, range from $98 to $48, depending on seating location. The bus departs from the alumni house at 6 p.m.

Call 724.738.2018 for reservations and details.

AVI Foodsystems' pre-performance dinners are as follows:

The pre-set menu for the Sept. 10 Chinese acrobats performance includes, Shanghai dumpling soup, hoisin grilled steak with red bell pepper stir fry, steamed jasmine rice, ginger, garlic green beans, bok choy and cabbage, and green-tea cheesecake with mint and berries. The vegetarian option is crab, mango and mint nori rolls.

The Oct 29 dinner, preceding Ailey II, will offer mixed greens with prosciutto and fried-buffalo mozzarella, broiled salmon with lemon leek sauces, rice pilaf and roasted asparagus with red peppers and cranberry-ribbon apple pie. The vegetarian option is risotto-alla Milanese.

The Dec. 2 "Scrooge in Concert" menu is butter lettuce salad with cranberries and Roquefort vinaigrette, cranberry and cornbread stuffed pork chop with roasted sweet potatoes and pecan streusel topping and green beans with caramelized shallots, with a mocha Yule log for dessert. The vegetarian option is plum-glazed stuffed shitake mushrooms.

The pre-performance "From Galway to Broadway" menu is pub salad, seared lamb chops with mashed potatoes, turnip gratin and herb-roasted vegetables, with a chocolate tart for dessert. The vegetarian option is cheddar and stout fondue.

Dinners are $24 per person ($90 for all four) with doors opening a 5:15 p.m. Reservations, due the Monday before the performance, may be made by calling 724.738.4245.

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