Guan Xin, director of the European and Asian Region in the Bureau for External Cultural Relations of the Ministry of Culture, takes the flag of the summer dance camp at the opening ceremony. [Photo by Xu Jing /Chinaculture.org]

The first China﹣CEEC (Central and Eastern European Countries) summer dance camp, sponsored by the Bureau for External Cultural Relations of the Ministry of Culture and the Culture Department of Shaanxi province, kicked off at the Xi’an Folk and Arts Museum, Shaanxi province, on July 15.

Forty﹣eight students, selected from thousands of candidates around China as well as Central and Eastern European countries, will be divided into three groups, learn contemporary dance techniques, exchange and share their knowledge and cultures in the following three weeks.

For this program, twelve experienced dance teachers as well as choreographers from Slovenia, Macedonia, Latvia, Czech Republic, Slovakia and China were invited. These include Ou Jianping, director of Dance Research Institute of Chinese National Academy of Arts, Natasa Zavolovsek, director of Exodo Ljublijana Arts Festival, and Risima Risimkin, artistic director of Skopje Dance Festival and the leading choreographer of Skopje Dance Theater.

Meanwhile, several Chinese folk artists will give paper﹣cutting, waist drum, folk songs of Northern Shaanxi province, shadow puppet and traditional Chinese opera, Tai Chi, as well as the calligraphy lessons to all the participants during the following 21 days.