Breath of fresh air

For modern dance devotees the end of November should be the highlight of the year and they will be heading to Beijing's National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA), where the Martha Graham Dance Company (MGDC) starts a four-day run tomorrow.

We've already had Maurice Bejart, Paul Taylor, Pina Pausch, Jiri Kylian and Lin Hwai-min. Now finally, Martha Graham's company arrives, although the legendary artist herself died 17 years ago at the age of 96.

Indeed, MGDC topped the invitation list before the NCPA formally opened last December. NCPA's programming department approached Janet Eilber, MGDC's artistic director 18 months ago.