Chinese dancer and choreographer Yang Liping (right) teaches audience members about the iconic hand gesture that imitates peacocks during her lecture at the China Cultural Center in Singapore. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

"Dancing is a charming form of performing arts. It came from life and is above life," said director Ma Hongying. "Dancing itself contains multiple social meanings, which helps demonstrate a region's social outlook and customs. The province of Yunnan is hailed as China's hometown of singing and dancing because of the singing and dancing abilities of local people."

The lecture was part of the China Cultural Center's Discovering China series, which invites experts from all areas to decode Chinese culture from different perspectives.