拥抱中国当代艺术

New indications are that an increasing number of Chinese people are now embracing contemporary art as wealth continues to accumulate in this country's urban centers.

CRI's Heidi Liu has more.

Reporter: Lei Dong Tian Xia is China's first independent modern dance company and is reminding the world that China is not only a historical giant but also a powerful force in contemporary art.

Willy Tsao, the artistic director of LDTX, says that Chinese people are eagerly embracing contemporary life and is ready to welcome modern dance as an art form that allows them to express and communicate their modern values and concerns.

"People go to the theatre, they are expecting to see something that addresses their contemporary values so I think it is just very natural for people to go a theatre expecting to see something real."

LDTX has been welcomed by the domestic Chinese audience but has been celebrated all around the world. The company is communicating beyond language barrier China's contemporary reality to a fascinated global community.

"Well we've been invited quite extensively to a lot of international festivals. Contemporary dance is a very good form, a good field to understand the culture. A lot of interest. Now that they want to know why China is developing so fast and how is the city? How is the energy? How is the younger generation responding to the situation so in the dance, especially contemporary dance, they can witness the younger generation how they use the body without the language barrier to express on stage the issues they are concerned."

The all-Chinese company has its own theatre in Beijing and incorporates a stunning variety of movement styles in the choreography company members create and perform.

Willy Tsao says LDTX draws inspiration from both China's heritage and international forms of modern dance, bridging the new and the old.

"A lot of people say that my style is grand I use a lot of grand floor work but of course when after so many years of working in China I also in my training I also adopt lots of qi gong and tai chi, with qi and especially the use of the dan tian which is one inch below your navel."

The future of LDTX is bright with promise, just like the future of China. Mr. Tsao believes the company's progress is inexplicably tied to that of the country.

"I believe that contemporary dance is always lively and becoming different every day and it is always reflecting contemporary issues so I don't know next day or next year what China will become and what sort of dance will be getting and sorts of ideas to suit the world but I want to always make the company as open as possible to allow new things to happen in the theatre."

For CRI, I'm Heidi Liu.