Toronto teen duo bring 300-year-old Chinese performance to Winnipeg for Folklorama | CBC News

Andrew Zeng and Sarah Cai may be young, but they’ve already got a handle on a 300-year-old form of traditional Chinese performance art that takes you through the full range of emotions.

Toronto duo Zeng, 14, and Cai, 13, were invited to travel from Toronto to Winnipeg this week to perform a face-changing dance at Folklorama’s Chinese pavilion, which sees the pair rotate through masks on stage that convey different emotional expressions.

“It’s an opportunity that you just can’t turn down,” said Cai. “It feels great because I know that I am spreading Chinese culture throughout the world.”

The Chinese pavilion has been around at Folklorama since its inception in 1970, said Frank Guan, co-ordinator of the pavilion.

He’s been involved in various ways for a decade, but it started a few years before that when he arrived in Canada in 1999 for school and a friend introduced him to the two-week cultural festival.

“I fell in love with Folklorama,” said Guan. “It’s such an amazing culture display and opportunity to expose myself to different kinds of cultures from different countries and enjoy different food…. I was amazed.”

LISTEN | A bunch of new Folklorama pavilions kick off. Hear more about what’s in store at this year’s Chinese pavilion:

There’s a range of tasty eats on offer at the Dynasty Building at 180 King Street in Winnipeg’s Chinatown this week.

There are also activities like Chinese calligraphy, mahjong and Chinese chess, as well as dragon dances, martial arts displays, face-changing performances and more.

He said this is the first year where dragon dance shows will be performed on stage. That’s in addition to the free performances in the Chinese garden.

It was in the planning phase this year Guan said he was asking around for suggestions on any notable Chinese-Canadian performers outside of Manitoba when Zeng and Cai and their “fantastic” face-change dance were recommended.

Zeng was grateful for the invite.

“I was quite excited because I wanted to go to Winnipeg because I knew it was the capital of Manitoba,” said Zeng. “I feel pretty honoured.”

Zeng said face-changing originated about three centuries ago as a form of opera associated with Sichuan, China. 

Performers swap through a multitude of different coloured masks that represent happiness, anger, sadness and other emotions, he said.

Zeng’s mother was experienced in face-changing and passed it down to her son at an early age. About five years ago he and Cai began rehearsing together.

“Face-changing has been passed down many generations and now we’re the ones who are performing it and it’s great,” said Cai.

LISTEN | Two teens are bringing their traditional Chinese face-change performance to Winnipeg for Folklorama’s Chinese pavilion:

Though the pair will be doing their face-changing dance at Folklorama, they’re also known for dragon and lion dancing — and their icy twist on the traditional art forms.

This past Chinese New Year they laced up and tested out the lion dance on skates.

“It was cool,” said Zeng. “Some people almost tripped over the lion but it ended up turning out pretty good.”

Though he says performing isn’t really his forte, Zeng “finds it fun to be able to entertain everyone and make sure that they have a great time while watching” the performances.

“It feels really great and we have a big responsibility,” said Zeng.

Cai encourages Manitobans to check out as many pavilions as they possibly can.

“But in the case that you don’t have time … you should come here to watch our dance since … it’s like magic,” said Cai.

The Chinese pavilion, and other pavilions that kicked off Sunday, Aug. 12, run until Saturday.