BALLET AND modern dance have been enjoying unprecedented popularity in the mainland in recent years. Thousands of schools and academies teach western dance, and enrolment for classes is in the tens of thousands.
But it was not always so, according to one of the country's leading choreographers.
'Ballet is now accepted by the masses,' said Jia Zuoguang, honorary president of the Chinese Dancers' Association. 'This wasn't the case when ballet was first performed in the country. In the 1940s and early '50s the leftists were pretty conservative, and the masses were scandalised by the sight of so many bare thighs flying all over the stage.'
Despite the growing popularity of western dance, ethnic Chinese dance is still the favourite with mainland audiences. 'It is easier to accept than ballet or modern dance and therefore still more popular.'
Jia will give a lecture on traditional Chinese dance during the Hong Kong Dance Festival, and he will lead a delegation of what is being billed as 'this generation's brightest stars', who will give a dance performance after his talk.
'After the festival is over, we will perform for the People's Liberation Army troops stationed in Hong Kong,' Jia said. 'We are doing this to promote national unity and spiritual education.'
