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China on Stage

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The sights and sounds of China's performing arts are instantly recognisable.

The sights and sounds of China's performing arts are instantly recognisable. This series takes us into a world of Chinese performance that is rarely seen outside of China.

The sights and sounds of China's performing arts are instantly recognisable. From the first plucked notes of a guzheng, to the drama of the Whip Dance, they conjure up a unique and unmistakable artistic world. In this series, we see how China's many and varied performers are finding exciting ways of synthesising China's artistic heritage with fresh global influences. We discover a China that's absorbing new ideas and art-forms hitherto unknown there, and hear how these have been infused with Chinese characteristics. Over six episodes we explore the traditional and the cutting edge in Chinese music, dance and theatre - from ballet to street dance, from Beijing opera to the latest pop - the series takes us into a world of Chinese performance that is rarely seen outside of China.  

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China on Stage: The Sounds of China

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China on Stage: The Songs of China

The Sounds of China

BBC World News - China on Stage, The Sounds of China

Jeff Crosby and Li Tong meet some of China's remarkable instrumentalists.

Jeff Crosby and Li Tong meet some of China's remarkable instrumentalists who are fusing East and West, ancient and modern, to create sounds that speak to contemporary China.

The sights and sounds of China's performing arts are instantly recognisable; they conjure up a unique and unmistakable artistic world. In this six-part series, we see how China's performers are finding new ways of synthesising China's artistic heritage with fresh global influences. In this second episode, presenters Jeff Crosby and Li Tong meet some of China's remarkable instrumentalists who are fusing East and West, ancient and modern, to create sounds that speak to contemporary China. We start with the work of ruan virtuoso, Feng Mantian, who uses the musical traditions of the past to help modern China find inner peace and self-reflection. Su Chang, a champion of the historic guzheng, shows Li Tong how the instrument holds its own as a solo instrument with a symphony orchestra. And we discover how the century-old Bianzhong bells are enthusing a new generation of Chinese musicians in Wuhan, and finally we meet the bamboo flute superstar, Ding Xiaokui, who is breathing new life into this most quintessential of all Chinese instruments.

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