The culture and traditions of the island county of Pingtan off the coast of Fujian are explored in the second leg of Yang Liping's dance drama tour, Chen Nan reports.

Situated off the east coast of Fujian province, Pingtan county is a chain of over 120 isles centered around the main island of Pingtan, and the closest place on the mainland to Taiwan. The natural beauty and unique culture of Pingtan not only attracts tourists, but it has also provided the inspiration for renowned Chinese dancer-choreographer Yang Liping's latest work.

Following its premiere in Fuzhou, Fujiang province, in January 2018, the dance drama Pingtan Impression has visited 20 cities and staged around 70 performances across the country.

From June 7 to 9, Pingtan Impression will make its Beijing debut at the Tianqiao Performing Arts Center, before embarking on a second nationwide tour.

"Dance is a way of satisfying human needs and in primitive societies, dance was a major way to express sentiments," says dancer-choreographer Yang, 61, a practitioner of Chinese folk dance, who is from the Bai ethnic group of Southwest China's Yunnan province. "I always bear that in mind after learning this as a child."

"When I visited Pingtan for the first time in October 2016, I encountered a totally different culture compared to my hometown in Yunnan province. The ocean, the religion, the Hakka folk songs, the local operas and food - everything inspired me," says Yang. "I didn't have to invent anything for the stage. I just presented the rarely seen traditions of Pingtan, some of which are facing extinction."

The visual spectacle gathers together over 50 characters born from the ancient folk tales of Pingtan, such as the prince of the ocean, hardworking farmers and evil gods.

Masks are a crucial element of the dance drama. The female choir members wear masks as they dance onstage as a goddess but they remove their masks when they start to sing to perform as humans. Since Pingtan is close to Taiwan, the statue of Mazu, a goddess of the sea in Chinese culture, can be seen in the temples of Pingtan, demonstrating the deep cross-Straits connections. In Pingtan Impression, Yang borrows the image of Mazu and depicts the holy pilgrimage to Mazu onstage.

Yang also mixes glove puppetry, a form of performance native to Fujian province and also popular in Taiwan, into her choreography. Along with stage designer Tao Lei, Yang recreates life-size glove puppets for the stage.

"The audience can see the unique style of Yang Liping in every part of the stage, like the sounds and colors. It's more than a show. She wants to showcase the power of folk art and nature, which inspired her from the beginning of her career," says Tao.

The other creative team members include composer Qi Yanfeng, who based his creations on Minju Opera, one of the major folk operas of Fujian, and also combined them with folk songs popular among local fishermen.

Pingtan Impression is the eighth dance drama by Yang, who grew up in the mountainous areas of the Dali Bai autonomous prefecture. As the eldest child in her family, she learned to take care of her family from a young age and helped her parents with farming and herding animals. Her grandmother once told her that dancing was a way to communicate with the gods.

She never had professional dance training but Yang joined the Yunnan Xishuangbanna Song and Dance Troupe in 1979. The same year, she won a top provincial award as the lead dancer in the Peacock Princess, a dance drama creat-ed by the troupe. In 1980, at the age of 22, she joined the Beijing-based China Central Ethnic Song and Dance Ensemble.

Yang became a household name in China after she gained national recognition for Spirit of Peacock, a dance drama she choreographed and performed in 1986.

In 2003, Yang directed her dance drama, Dynamic Yunnan, which became a sensation. The work has since been staged over 3,000 times worldwide and is currently performed as a tourist attraction in Kunming, the provincial capital of Yunnan.

Her interest in folk art and nature led Yang to explore the different cultures in China. In 2007, she launched another successful show, Riddle of Tibet, which won acclaim for its interpretation of Tibetan culture and Buddhism. The show is now a major tourist draw in Sichuan province's Jiuzhaigou Valley, where it is regularly staged.

"We hope that Pingtan Impression will become a regular show in Fujian, which will help more people to understand their maritime traditions," says Wang Yanwu, Yang's longtime partner, who also manages her company, the Yang Liping Arts and Culture Co Ltd.