Thirst for Lotus bloom
The Lotus Awards Dance Competition was a springboard for some of the most popular Chinese dance theater works: Dynamic Yunnan (Yunnan Yinxiang), Shaolin in the Wind (Fengzhong Shaolin), and Farewell My Concubine (Bawang Bieji) were all winners of the Lotus Award.
It is only reasonable that Chinese dance lovers expect new popular works to come out of the sixth Lotus Awards Folk Dance Competition set to take place on November 3 to 12 at the Grand Theater of Guiyang, capital city of Southwest China's Guizhou Province.
Sponsored by the Chinese Dancers Association, the biennial Lotus Awards Dance Competition is considered the top competition for professional dancers in China. Since 2005, the competition of folk dance was held separately.
"Compared to classical Chinese dance and ballet, the charm of folk dance lies not in its technical aspect but in its unique styles and local traditions, so we think it is appropriate to hold the competition of folk dance separately," says Feng Shuangbai, vice-chairman of the Chinese Dancers Association.
Since the competition called for works in April, 320 works from 26 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions have been entered into the competition representing 29 ethnic groups. Seventy-seven of these works will be qualified to take part in the seven semi-finals from November 3 to 9, after which about 30 works will compete in the final on November 10 and 11.
The competition will give out gold, silver and bronze awards for the best works, best choreography, and best performances. There will also be one award for best music, best stage set, best lighting, and best costume respectively. The awards ceremony will be held on November 12.
"Traditionally, best folk dance works usually come from the five ethnic groups of Han, Tibetan, Mongolian, Uygur and Korean, but this time we have seen many good works from smaller ethnic groups," says Feng.
According to Feng, the board of judges will consist of about 50 dance experts representing various ages and ethnic groups. To ensure the fairness of the competition, the semi-finals and finals will be overseen by different judges who will be chosen randomly from within the board.
During the competition, the Forum of Chinese Dance Industry will be held from November 6 to 11. A performance with folk dances from China and abroad will also be held in Qingyan, a small town near Guiyang with a history of 600 years.
(China Daily 10/16/2007 page18)
