Bold dance drama impresses

In early August, the National Center for the Performing Arts pins down its program for the upcoming spring season that usually starts in early January.

This year, one exceptional performance was so good that NCPA's vice-director Deng Yijiang was persuaded to add it to the list in November. Red Sorghum, a dance drama based on Nobel literary prize-winner Mo Yan's novel of the same name, will be a blockbuster opener to the season.

At this year's Wenhua Awards, which the Ministry of Culture established in 1991 to honor outstanding stage performances, Red Sorghum won three honors, picking up prizes for choreography, directing and the overall prize. It is the third dance drama ever awarded and the first in the history of the Qingdao Song and Dance Theater.