DANCE

A large series of singing and dancing performances featuring the rich culture of China's southwestern province of Guizhou will embark on a four-city tour in the United States this summer, organizers say. The Wind of Colorful Guizhou show will include folk songs, artistic writing, symbolized dances and myths stories, according to the Sino-Professional Club in Houston, the local organizer.

The program, dedicated to Guizhou's ethnic minorities and designed to promote Guizhou's tourism, is to land on Houston, the fourth largest U.S. city, on July 29, and will also be staged in Chicago, Miami and New York.

Guizhou is home to 49 of China's 56 ethnic groups. The "Wind of Colorful Guizhou" was inspired by various ethnic groups living in Guizhou, such as Han, Miao, Buyi, Dong, Yi, Yao, Shui and Gelao, successfully blending vivid colors, sounds and dance movements all together.

There are many grand ethnic festivals in Guizhou and the "Wind of Colorful Guizhou" is heavily inspired by the heritages of various ethnic groups in the region.

The show will feature performances including the wooden drum dance, a traditional gala for the Miao people, and the Dongzu Dage, or Ka Lau Chorus of the Dong ethnic group, which has been listed by UNESCO as an intangible cultural heritage.

Since its premiere in 2005, about 2,000 performances of the "Wind of Colorful Guizhou" have been staged, attracting a total audience of more than 2 million in both China and overseas, organizers said.