Literally, it is called Flower Waist Song and Dance.

"Dynamic Yunnan" is filled with songs and dances that celebrate the sun, the moon and the region's folk legends. Ms. Yang said part of the show's popularity stems from its authenticity: nearly all the performers are young people from Yunnan's ethnic minorities. And like her, few have had formal training.

One young man, she said, was selected after she heard him crying out for his runaway cow. A young girl was chosen after pleading for the opportunity to dance so she could earn the $48 it would cost her family to buy a cow. Ms. Yang said the girl's story moved her to tears. "I picked her even though I thought she was too short," Ms. Yang said, laughing. "But she works hard. I can always hear her singing in the back. She puts all her energy into it. You see, this show is nothing but real life."

To prepare the show, Ms. Yang said she spent more than a year traveling to remote villages in her native Yunnan, studying local dances, recording disappearing folk songs and recruiting dozens of young people from ethnic minority groups. Yunnan is China's most ethnically diverse province.

Many of the villages she visited were wedged between mountains and seemingly lost to the modern world. There she encountered the folk rhythms of farmers and villagers who seemed to have a natural aptitude for song and dance.

"In these villages, people have songs and dances for every event - when they're happy, at harvest time, when they're getting married or mourning," she said. "It's not a choice, it's a lifestyle."

花腰歌舞
(石屏县花腰彝) Song & Dance of Huayao Tribe

彝族人有句俗话："有嘴不会唱，白活在世上；有脚不能跳，俏也无人要"。"海菜腔"发源于云南石屏异龙湖一带，彝家姑娘在湖中捕 鱼时，一边划船，一边唱歌，歌声就象水中随波浪起伏的海菜，因而叫"海菜腔"，"海菜腔"极其优美、复杂、动听，是滇南"四大腔 "("海菜腔"、"山悠腔"、"四腔"、"五山腔")中最难学、最难唱的民歌。舞者们唱三拍，跳二拍，手击一拍，在原生、经典舞 蹈中堪称一绝。生活在石屏县哨冲、龙朋、龙武一带的花腰彝，小姑娘从11、2岁就开始学做针线，绣花、缝衣服，一套衣服要做4、 5年，最后就穿着这套一针一线亲手缝制的衣服出嫁，不会绣花缝衣的姑娘嫁不出去。演员们穿的衣服就是她们亲手缝制的。 (less info)