A troupe from China’s Guizhou province will tomorrow perform in Kalkara, ushering in the Chinese New Year and raising funds in aid of Id-Dar tal-Providenza.

Founded in 1983, the Guizhou Congjiang theatre company specialises in the folk performances and ethnic minority art of the southwestern Chinese province it hails from. About 37 per cent of the province’s population (37.64 million) comes from 17 indigenous ethnic minority groups.

The troupe, which has performed around the globe from Japan to Spain and Russia to Mexico, was invited by the China Cultural Centre in Malta to participate in events marking the international Chinese Spring Festival, themed Happy Chinese New Year by the Culture Ministry of China.

Rooted in over 4,000 years of history, the New Year is considered by the Chinese to be their grandest festival. Associated with family reunion, peace, prosperity and harmony between man and nature, the event is a manifestation of traditional values.

The numbers to be presented by the Guizhou troupe include the Dong Grand Chorus, which was inscribed in Unesco’s representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009, and the Miao Fanpai Wooden Drum Dance, among others.

The event will take place at St Margaret College Primary School, Kalkara, tomorrow at 6pm. Entrance is at €2 per person, with all proceeds in aid of Id-Dar tal-Providenza. Tickets are available from the college from 9am to 1pm and from the Kalkara local council from 7am to 3pm.

More information about the performance, co-organised by the China Cultural Centre in Malta and the Kalkara council in collaboration with St Margaret College Kalkara Primary School, is available on 2166 5500 or via e-mail at elaine.caruana@gov.mt.