Rocking the World with Drum Music in the 21st Century
As a government-sponsored privately-run enterprise, Shanghai Empireast Culture Group Co., Ltd, ("Empireast") adheres to the principle of "reinventing tradition with an innovative spirit", and is committed to dissemination and training in traditional drumming skills.
Inheritance, innovation and development can blaze the trail of rebirth for traditional cultures. As a pioneer in the promotion of China's intangible cultural heritage, Empireast was the first company in the world to produce shows featuring water drums, blue and white porcelain drums, LED drums, crystal fou drums, diamond drums, jade drums and space drums. It also owns 6 patents, 4 trademarks and 9 cultural brands. Relying purely on market operations, Empireast has established a number of industry chains around the globe for traditional culture with distinctive characteristics, bringing together resident shows at home and abroad, international drum festivals, film and TV shows, games, cultural property, overseas theatres, traditional small towns, and drum music products (blue and white porcelain drums, pellet drums).
The company has left its unique mark with performances at the Beijing Olympic Games, the Shanghai World Expo, the ground-breaking ceremony of the Shanghai Disney project, China state dinners, Prince William's visit to China, the King of Bahrain, Khalifa's banquet and Lee Kuan Yew's visit to China. On 8 April 2011, at the ground-breaking ceremony of Shanghai Disney, the blue and white porcelain drum show produced by Empireast was the only Chinese performance selected by the American directors. During the live broadcast, the blue and white porcelain drums immediately took China by storm.
Haipai drum art, which assimilates the strengths of other schools of drum art, has become a successful example of promoting Chinese culture abroad. Its footprint has reached every corner of the world, with a six-year drum tour in the US, 100 drum tours in the UAE, the annual drum tour to mark the China-Australia Year of Tourism, the drum show in Singapore to celebrate the New Year, and the drum performance in Macau for Intangible Cultural Heritage Day. At the opening ceremony of the 2016 International Festival for Drums and Traditional Arts in Egypt, Empireast opened the show, rocking the world with its drum music. Wearing kao, an armour outfit from Peking Opera, and with four flags strapped to their backs, 13 performers wielded their drumsticks with impressive power and vigour.
In 2017, the 1st China International Drum Festival was launched in Shanghai. The opening ceremony began with the magnificent blue and white porcelain drum show Inspiring the Chinese Dream. Subsequently, drumming troupes from Yunnan, Taiwan, Ethiopia, Singapore and Indonesia gave performances showcasing their different cultures and musical styles. The festival also invited internationally recognised drum artists to perform a deep fusion of different cultural traditions.
In the 21st century, as a pioneer of innovative development, Empireast will focus on two major projects: Inspiring Shanghai, the first drum drama ever produced in the the world, and the China International Drum Festival. The company will continue to promote the innovation of traditional art forms, encourage the development of the culture industry and support cultural exchange between China and other countries.
Picture: Playbill of Inspiring Shanghai