Show of great spirit

By drawing inspiration from the long-celebrated culture surrounding baijiu, Liu Lingli succeeds in finding a new direction for her latest dance work, Chen Nan reports.

When renowned Chinese dancer-choreographer Liu Lingli started planning a new dance drama more than a year ago, she decided to root her ideas in traditional Chinese culture, just as she did in her previous works - including one of her most famous works from 2004, Qiao Hua Dan, which centers around the young female roles played in Peking Opera.

However, she decided to approach her latest project from a new angle, exploring a subject she really didn't know much about - Chinese white spirit, or baijiu.