A performance group consisting of 60 Xiaohuang residents performed on Jan. 8 in a Beijing musical show titled "Sing for Love."
The performers are members of the ethnic Dong people and ranged in age from 5 to 80 years. After traveling to the capital-city venue, the National Center for the Performing Arts, the Dong performers presented a show that uses a traditional Dong tale of Zhulang and Niangmei as its basis.
The project originated in 2012, when Chinese National Orchestra composer Chen Si'ang visited Xiaohuang village in October with Jiang Buxian. Jiang is the artistic director of the Dong troupe and the director of Dage Art Troupe, a creative body based in the same prefecture where all of Thursday's visiting performers are from.
Specifically, the Dong troupe is from the Xiaohuang village, which is located in the Congjiang county of Guizhou Province in southwestern China. The journey to the provincial capital, Guiyang, is four hours by road.
Jiang told the media that the Dong people record their history and culture in music, as they do not use a written language form. Songs are written about topics such as mountains and romance. The Dong people call their home the "village of songs" and "dage" describes their polyphonic folk songs. Dage became an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2009.
Dage then inspired Chen to compose the music for "Sing for Love" as part of his 2012 trip, and he included other Chinese folk music instruments, like the erhu and pipa. The composer shared his experience and aspiration:
"Although those songs are thousands of years old, I felt connected to the melodies. I hope more young audiences living in big cities can enjoy the art."
Jiang, who is also a member of Qiandongnan, a song and dance troupe, wrote the script for the musical.