Rural children put best feet forward

 Zhang Ping, a well-known choreographer, is the founder of the Colorful Cloud project. The initiative aims to teach students in the rural areas of Southwest China's Yunnan pro­vince to dance and, hopefully, to improve their life chances through the medium.

Since the nonprofit project was launched in 2016, it has given 62 children in Naduo, a village in Yanshan county, and nearby areas the chance to study at arts-based schools in Kunming, the provincial capital.

Last year, Zhang and her husband established an art institution in Naduo to help continue nurturing local talent and also to provide job opportunities for students from the village who have already graduated but have returned to train their younger peers.