' I enjoyed looking after pigs because they were friendly to me. At that time people were afraid of being friendly to me so the pigs seemed very sympathetic.'
Tai Ai-Lien, the premier classical dance teacher of China, like so many leading artists and writers, was sent for ' retraining' to a Cadre School for many years during the period of the ' Gang of Four'.
This film report by Philip Short , the BBC's correspondent in Peking, looks at the damage done to the arts in China by the harsh, dogmatic policies of that time and how now - with the fall of the Gang-dancers, musicians, film-makers, painters, actors and acrobats are finding new freedoms a great deal more than at any time in the last few years.
The- film unit was able to travel widely through China and to film and talk with artists of every kind, all obviously revelling in their new-found opportunities.
Written and narrated byPHILIP SHORT Film cameraman MIKE SPOONER Film editor PAUL FOXALL Producer ANTHONY ISAACS