Adult Shows

Li Min will perform stories from her own life growing up as a special-needs pupil and immigrating to America at age 13 in the sixties. In addition to telling her own life tales, she sprinkles in old Chinese songs, poetry recitation and traditional holiday tales from the oral tradition.

Night River

A rich and moving one-woman show by Li Min Mo

Telling a story in Geng Cun

Night River is an immigrant's story. The backdrop is the Japanese invasion of China, the forced famine in the 1950s followed by Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution, and the struggles of a Chinese immigrant family settling in New York City in the 1960s. Within this historical tale, the artist reveals a universal theme that people from all walks of life can identify with: Human will and our spirit of survival will eventually triumph over life's tragedies. The show runs within an hour and can be shortened to fit a high school audience.

Children's Shows

High School Program

I will present stories adapted from my co- authored book, Laughing in the Kitchen. I was smuggled out of Mainland China in 1952, and lived in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Spain in the fifties. At age thirteen I immigrated to America; learning English was a long journey. I discovered a Chinese hand-laundering man in in my neighborhood in New York and his life revealed to me a whole chapter of Chinese-American history.

Also included: Ancient Chinese poetry, my own poems, a short discussion period with the audience and a questionaire about my program for the students.

Middle School Program

I present tales from Asian folklore, including Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese traditional tales. Some of the stories are included in my tape, Tales from the Land of Dragon. I will also present stories adapted from my memoir, growing up in China. The middle schoolers will learn to chant poems in Chinese with me. Children will also learn about Chinese children's songs, and we will do some taichi & chi-kung movements.

Elementary School Program

Elementary school presentations are similar to those for middle schools, but with some shorter stories that will engage the imagination of younger children. We will do taiqi and chi-kung and we will put on a traditional Chinese dragon parade or lantern parade. Children will also learn Chinese nursery rhymes. Of course, as with all my programs, I can tailor all the activities and stories for different sized groups or younger children.