The Beijing Dance Festival which aims to highlight contemporary dance will kick off on July 18 and run till the end of the month. In the first week, 16 professional dancer-choreographers from 14 countries, including the United States, Germany, Finland and India, will give master classes and workshops at the Beijing Institute of Performing Arts, and in the second week, audiences will get to enjoy performances at Tianqiao Performing Arts in Beijing.

Revealing how the foreign troupes were chosen for the festival, which was first held in 2008, Willy Tsao, the artistic director of Beijing Dance/LDTX, one of the organizers of the festival, says: "We go around the world to attend dance festivals."

Speaking about the aims of the event, Tsao, who is also the founder and artistic director of the other two organizers of the festival - the Guangdong Modern Dance Company and the Hong Kong City Contemporary Dance Company, says: "Our goal is not to have the most famous dance companies or the most established artists. But we want to show audiences the most avant-garde and the latest dance productions in the world."

Hong Kong spotlight

One of the highlights at this year's event will be a series of performances marking the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China.

Five choreographers from Hong Kong, including Helen Lai, Noel Pong and, Sang Jijia, have collaborated for Amidst the Wind, which will be performed by the Hong Kong City Contemporary Dance Company on July 26.

According to Tsao, who founded the dance company in 1979, Amidst the Wind is a celebration of "the most exhilarating dance excerpts from its productions of the past two decades".

From scenes in a living room filled with sorrow to a cinema full of laughter, the work draws inspiration from the classic Chinese novel, Dream of the Red Chamber, by Qing Dynasty writer Cao Xueqin and The Metamorphosis, a novel by Franz Kafka.

Meanwhile, a show titled Hong Kong Classics Restaged will see Hong Kong choreographers showcase their works, which are based on Chinese works including Mui Cheuk-yin's Awakening in a Dream and Yuri Ng's Boy Story.

Hong Kong New Wave, a show being staged on July 27, will feature works by dancer-choreographers from Hong Kong, including Lies in Waiting by Kelvin Mak and Folding Echoes by Joseph Lee.

"These dancer-choreographers from Hong Kong combine influences from both China and the West. And during the past 20 years, they have witnessed changes in the city and their voices are heard through their works," says Tsao.

Other performances will include Circle 2: The Flow, choreographed by Zi Wei and performed by Beijing Dance/LDTX; Cosmic Body choreographed by Ingri Fiskdal and performed by the Ingri Fiskdal Dance Company from Oslo, Norway and Sale choreographed by Eyal Dadon from Israel.

Niche market

Explaining, how he keeps the festival alive, Tsao, who says he aims promote contemporary dance in China, says: "There are a lot of struggles and challenges but all serious arts face difficulties."

He adds that modern dance in China is still a niche market. "So, the only way to let people know about modern dance is to give more performances and to attract young audiences."

In 2012, the Beijing Dance Festival was modified from a one-week event to a two-week show, which, besides offering performances by international contemporary dance troupes, now also functions as an important platform to educate amateurs.

Tsao says that this year, 213 young amateur dancers from 31 cities across China will participate in the festival. They will be offered opportunities to meet professional dancer-choreographers at workshops and perform their own pieces.