Dance drama festival kicks off in Beijing

An original Chinese dance drama, Sing A Song for the Party, by Beijing Dance Academy, will be staged at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing on Oct 7 and 8.

The dance drama will open the NCPA's annual program, Spring Flowers and Autumn Fruits — Chinese Art Schools Week, which gathers performances staged by Chinese art schools with low ticket prices catering to art lovers.

The dance drama is to mark the 70th anniversary of the peaceful liberation of Tibet autonomous region by telling stories of families in Tibet who witnessed and experienced the liberation. Traditional songs and dances from the Tibetan ethnic group are featured in the dance drama.

Since the first Spring Flowers and Autumn Fruits — Chinese Art Schools Week, which was launched by the NCPA in 2008, Beijing Dance Academy has participated in the program 12 times with 15 theatrical productions, produced and performed by over 2,000 students and teachers from the school.

This year, the program will have nine Chinese art schools stage 11 performances, covering a diversity of art forms, such as music, dance and traditional Chinese operas.