NORWICH – The Chenango County Council of the Arts, Norwich, has announced the lineup for the11/12 Performance Series.

Kicking off the season on Nov. 10, are the Shangri-La Chinese Acrobats. They’ve been called “incredible,” “breathtaking,” “stunning,” and “quite unbelieveable”. The Shangri-La Chinese Acrobats offer more than a glimpse into the fascinating traditions of the Orient. It consists of sensational Chinese acrobats, balancing feats, martial arts displays, and much more. A truly Oriental spectacular and a show for all ages, the grace and precision of the acrobats are the triumph of years of dedicated training and discipline. Chinese acrobatics are, in fact, more than just a series of stunts. Most of these acts clearly demonstrate the achievement of perfection through finding harmony between mind and body. The art has been formed by centuries of tradition.

A perennial favorite of local audiences, Barrage returns to Norwich on Dec. 10 in their final tour, “A Winter’s Tale.” A high octane fiddle fest that features an international, multi-talented cast performing an eclectic mix of music, song and dance. Barrage has entertained millions of people around the globe with fans in Europe, Asia, the South Pacific and North America. Barrage’s new holiday show “Winter’s Tale” offers up a diverse fusion of cultures, musical styles, and incredible performance vitality. The music of Barrage continues to evolve – combining contemporary world music influences, layered vocal arrangements and pulsating modern beats and rhythms. Barrage pulls its influences from the music and dance styles of “Old World” Europe. Spanish, Celtic, Italian, French, Ukrainian, Russian and Norwegian. The young, hip cast delivers the show with amazing energy and musical virtuosity that will take your breath away. The performance is being sponsored by NBT Bank.

For over a decade the contemporary quartet Cordis has been redefining contemporary chamber music by fusing an original combination of custom-made and traditional ethnic instruments to create their signature sound. Although the ensemble is built upon cello (Jeremy Harman), concert cimbalom (Richard Grimes), piano (Oscar Rodriguez), and percussion (Andrew Beall) - one-of-a-kind creations such as a the electric mbira, melodica, and world’s longest playing cylinder-driven music box also have a way of weaving their way into any given performance. Time Out New York said, “(Cordis) makes a strong case for both sides of its musical personality - expanding the boundaries of chamber music.” NewMusicBox.com concurred, “Cordis offers an intriguing mix of instrumentation, and Grimes uses them well to show of his unique perspective on 21st century chamber music.” They are currently touring with a small ensemble of dancers from Kansas City Modern Dance, fusing these two art forms. They will perform in Norwich on Feb. 4, 2012.