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Beijing's modern movement: China's cultural hub catches on to contemporary dance.

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The bustling city of Beijing is full of movement. Arms of calligraphers sweep delicate brushstrokes on the sun-drenched slate at the Temple of Heaven. Legs of cyclists pump their pedals as they speed down busy streets returning from the market with heaps of green onions. Even the red and gold lanterns that appear everywhere--from storefronts to archways on the street--seem to move with a syncopated sway.

Beijing's modern dance scene is adding to the city's rhythm. In a country known for its history, modern is not the first word that springs to mind. And yet modern dance here is alive--young, fresh, and refreshing. In less than three decades, China has broken ground with contemporary works that spring from traditional Chinese dance forms with new life.

For example, during the Booking Dance Festival Beijing (see sidebar, page 38) Fei Bo's Kunqu Vision revealed the current appeal of modern dance in Beijing. A single spotlight pours down on a classically trained ballerina in a sculpted white dress. Her three male partners guide her through the space by braiding her long black hair, a familiar element of traditional Chinese ethnic dance. These performers represent China's past, present, and future: Cao Shuci, a prima ballerina from the National Ballet of China; Yi Jie, a member of the China Er Pao Army Song and Dance Troupe; Li Xing, who performs with the People's Liberation Army; and Fei Bo, who graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy for choreography, has studied traditional dance and now works with the National Ballet of China. What started as a gentle, sweet pas de quatre erupts, and the ballerina furiously dances in a tight space while the men sway back and forth under her spell. But a greater spell spreads across the stage when these four contemporary dancers are confronted with China's long, elaborate history--a performer dressed in traditional Kunqu opera regalia slowly walks across the back of the stage, nodding to acknowledge the future of dance in China.

Fei (surnames come first in China) says about this work, "We draw on elements of Kunqu opera to discover a...

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