Young Pingyao performer joins Spring Festival Gala

On the eve of this year's Spring Festival, a lad from Pingyao county, Shanxi province, showed up for the annual Spring Festival Gala, in the city of Beijing, capital of China, put on by the country's central TV station, bringing along an amazing dance, the qiaogong, which left a great impression on audiences and left the people of Shanxi feeling proud.

Qiaogong is a form of Chinese opera ballet, usually performed by a male dancer, with only a few left to perform it now. Many opera experts were shocked to learn that Yang actually majored in classical dance rather than this form of ballet. In fact, Yang has been known for his qiaogong since he took part in the play Fen Mo Spring and Autumn, in Shanxi province, where he appeared as a woman, dancing on a pair of three-inch stilts, which led to his being given the chance to appear on stage at this year's Gala.

In explaining why he chose qiaogong, Yang says he believes it was a hard decision to make but worthwhile. Three years ago, he got his opening when he was picked for Fen Mo Spring and Autumn, but the training was full of pain and injuries. And, even though his feet were deformed by the stilts, he didn't give up and, by combining it with his classical dance techniques he finally grasped the intricacies and managed to handle all kinds of difficult postures.

After his success in the play and in an appearance on TV, Yang got the Spring Festival Gala offer, so, practice really does make perfect. And he trained hard for his Gala performance even though it only lasted 1 minute. And he really did make it.

In commenting on it, he says with great delight, "It was my first appearance at the Gala and quite stressful. But instead of feeling nervous, I felt excited."

And there were some odd and interesting occurrences during the rehearsals, for example, when many cast members mistook Yang for a fragile, beautiful girl, and didn't know who he was after he took his make-up off. There were similar embarrassing mistakes in the men's washroom, which were a bit awkward for Yang.

Briefly put, the Gala performance will be one of Yang's greatest experiences in his career, since it is the dream of just about all artists in China, and being up there on stage is considered a great source of recognition for all Chinese.