China’s New Dance

Reflecting a society in flux, professional modern dance has spread beyond Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai to attract budding choreographers in universities in other provinces. True to the essence of modern dance anywhere, it is no longer limited to one kind of movement idiom or aesthetic.

Popular Music? What’s That?

“Popular music” is no longer a homogenised entity: the very narrow band of commercial pop that is sufficiently ubiquitous to register with national newspaper leader writers is the tip of the iceberg. There has been a great rise in interest in underground, non-commercial music (helped by the availability of information and music files on the internet). Many people are hungry for anything that sounds a bit different, uses sound in a new way and sets itself apart from the naked consumerism of commercial pop.