Lotus Steps 2020 -- Vicissitudes

Who are we?

The UCLA Chinese Cultural Dance Club (CCDC) was founded in February of 2000 with the vision of sharing Chinese and Chinese American culture through dance. It dedicates itself to provide free Chinese dance lessons to the UCLA community, including students, alumni, and juniors from the Families with Children from China Program (FCC). Several performances per year are put on both within UCLA campus and around the greater Los Angeles area, including CACN Cultural Night, CSSA Chinese Cultural Night, and outreach events at China Care Bruins.. People join CCDC to find their cultural roots, to seek a sense of belonging, or simply to make friends and have fun.

UCLA中国舞蹈团（CCDC）于2000年成立，旨在通过舞蹈的方式传播中国与华裔文化。我们是UCLA唯一一个中国舞蹈团，且二十年如一日地提供免费的舞蹈课程和演出。对于我们的很多成员来说，CCDC就像家一样。在这里，美籍华裔们可以探索中国文化的根，而留学生们也能得到归属感。当然，也有对中国文化并不熟悉的人，通过我们社团了解了中国。我们为UCLA增添了文化的多样性，也将中国文化传播给了更广的群众。

What is Lotus Steps?

Lotus Steps is our club’s annual showcase, a unique cultural event staged during the Spring quarter at UCLA’s prestigious Royce Hall, which can seat nearly 2,000 audiences. The production features pieces borrowed from classical, contemporary, ethnic, folk, and martial arts dance styles. Wushu, Lion Dance, Indian Dance also join Lotus Steps as featured guests.

Lotus Steps是我们每年春季学期的年度演出，近年有幸在UCLA的标志性建筑Royce Hall举办。虽然Lotus Steps并非商演，但是其灯光、舞美、编舞都是几近专业的水平。每场演出包含了古典舞、民族舞等多种类型，营造出沉浸式的欣赏体验，让观众们尽情感受中国文化艺术的美好。

A club with a history of twenty years, CCDC places great emphasis on innovation. Last year,  we welcomed the production of our first-ever dance drama Li Bai. A collective endeavor, the show successfully captured the great cultural vitality of the Tang dynasty with exquisite costumes, eye-catching choreography, and harmonious music.  

作为一个有着二十年历史的群体，CCDC也不断寻求创新。去年我们筹备并呈现了社团第一个舞剧《李白》。演出讲述了诗仙李白跌宕的一生，也展示了盛唐的风貌和文化底蕴。

We decide this year’s theme as Vicissitudes, aimed to encapsulate the spirit of broad Chinese history through dance. The performance consists of over ten distinct pieces, each corresponding to a specific time period. Together we would revisit the origin myths of our civilization, reinterpret folklores about the heroine who fend off northern nomads, and reflect on the literati ideals of Song scholarly elite... As if rafting the Yangtze river and borne back into the ancient past by its endless current, audiences will experience themselves the spatial-temporal dynamics of Chinese society along with its ethnic and cultural pluralism.

今年，适逢CCDC成立20周年，我们决定把主题定为更迭，期望能够通过舞蹈去探寻中国历史上下五千年的变迁。演出将会由十几个不同时期背景的舞蹈组成，涵盖多个地域和民族文化。从楚辞民歌中的楚地风物，到木兰替父从军的坊间美谈；从蒙古姑娘的活泼果敢，再到北宋士人的理念情怀都会略有涉及。“千古兴亡多少事？悠悠。不尽长江滚滚流。” 观众将有机会亲身体会中国文化的源远流长和广博丰富。

Why we need your help?

As we aim to keep Lotus Steps a completely free event that is open to the public, we are facing financial shortage. In total, the production of Lotus Steps 2020 will cost more than $30,000, and we are trying our best to fill in the gap between our budget and the actual cost. Around 40 dancers and more than 20 staff members have devoted their time and put in significant efforts toward the production, and we truly hope that these efforts to bring diversity to the community can be seen.

我们希望今年的演出依旧能够延续过去公开、免费的传统，但也正因为如此我们面临着巨大的经济压力。今年演出的筹备总共需要3万多美元，我们也在尽我们的最大努力填补资金上的缺口。舞社的40余名舞者及20名指导教师在过去的半年中都为此次演出付出了许多时间与努力，所以我们衷心的希望大家能够看见我们努力的成果。

While we have held a few fundraising events at UCLA, we are still in need of around $8,000 dollars towards the dance production. That's why we come to Spark. We hope that we can receive collective support from you and the UCLA community to accomplish our show! We sincerely appreciate every dollar of contribution, and we promise to devote all the donations toward a better performance.

尽管我们在过去的几个月中在UCLA举办了几次募款活动，对于这场演出的举办我们现在仍面临着8000美金的资金缺口。所以我们来到了Spark。我们希望能够得到您和来自UCLA社群的支持，让我们能够成功地举办这场演出。每一分捐款对我们来说都弥足珍贵，在此我们也郑重承诺所有的捐款款项都将用于 Lotus Steps 2020 的舞台筹备，并以更好的演出来回馈我们的捐款人。

Our Vision:

Chinese dance has already become part of our life. We enjoy dancing and putting efforts into the annual Lotus Steps and treasure every opportunity to share our culture. We work to improve the quality of our performance by taking care of every detail, and we truly value the support from our friends, families, and communities. We always aim for the best, and we genuinely hope for opportunities to share our culture and enrich the diversity across the UCLA community.

We are CCDC, and we work to share what we love. 

Thank you!

UCLA Chinese Cultural Dance Club

舞社里的每一个人都深爱着中国文化，也热爱我们所做的这一切。中国舞已然成为我们生活中重要的一部分。我们享受着为每一场演出付诸热情与汗水的过程，也珍惜着每一次能将我们深爱的中国舞分享给更多人的机会。一直以来，CCDC都在努力提升演出的质量，也在尽力完善每一个细节。所有来自家人、朋友、及公众的支持都给了我们很大的动力。我们追求卓越，也真心地希望能够与观众们分享中华文化，同时让UCLA成为一个更富多样性、更具归属感的校园。

我们是CCDC，我们致力于用中国舞分享我们所热爱之事。

衷心感谢你们的支持！

UCLA中国舞社