When erhu artist WeiWei Wuu took to the stage at Shanghai Concert Hall on April 30, she delivered a show that could be described as out of the ordinary.
The Chinese audience likely expected to see a woman playing the traditional instrument while seated, wearing a cheongsam (the body-hugging dress native to Shanghai) and playing ballads that evoke a sentimental nostalgia. Wuu, however, was resplendent in fuchsia, mint and gold, and began her performance by walking through the crowd playing a piece that had the jaunty rhythm of a Celtic jig. And the musical experimentation didn¡¯t stop there: She also touched on rock, jazz and balladry during the concert, capping it off with accompaniment from a backing orchestra comprising 70 of her Japanese students.
¡°I really wanted to show people in my hometown just how much my Japanese students love playing niko,¡± Wuu says, using the Japanese word for the two-stringed Chinese fiddle.
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