The Kids are Alright

Children's art, like children's literature, can be downright profound in its simplicity, not to mention refreshing for the lack of guesswork and determined contemplation the adult art world can demand. (Those knowing laughs at avant-garde performances aren't fooling anybody anyway, so why not give yourself a break?) "Accessible" need not mean "unsophisticated," though, especially when kids get the chance to create under the guidance of professional artists. Case in point is the Chinese American International School's Music and Movement Ensemble, a group of fifteen 10 to 14-year-olds whose talent will leave you either wholly inspired or utterly intimidated. The Ensemble's Wu-Xing: Five Phases, a tribute to both Mother's Day and the Asian Art Museum's Fifth Anniversary, puts on display the students' exceptional talents for world music, contemporary dance, martial arts, large-scale calligraphy, and Tang dynasty poetry.

Inspired by the five Chinese classical elements (metal, wood, water, fire, and earth), Wu Xing is set to a combination of Chinese folk songs, original music by German pedagogue Gunild Keetman, and Balinese gamalan, all composed in a pentatonic scale, and some of it in 5/4 time. (Yes, there is indeed a pattern here with the number five — we knew you’d get it!)
Sun., May 11, 2 p.m., 2008