The Beijing Dance Academy 北京舞蹈学院

Touted as China's most prestigious training academy of dance, this government-run institution is slowly opening up to the styles of the outside world. After finishing his four-year training program in Guangdong, choreographer Wang Mei returned to BDA and helped establish its modern dance program. The teachers here seek to create innovative modern dance that blends foreign techniques with Chinese content. To that end, Wang Mei is often hailed as the foremost leader of a new kind of Chinese modern dance – yet she refuses to showcase her choreography abroad. So the only place you can see her groundbreaking work is in the classrooms of the Beijing Dance Academy! Call the foreign office to watch a class, rehearsals, or find out if there is a hui bao ke (final class performance) scheduled.