Recently, under the coordinated guidance of the "Double Hundred Action" Command Center of Xinghai Conservatory of Music, the Taishan Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau, the Taishan Education Bureau, and the Jiangmen Cultural Center, three distinctive artistic works from Taishan are set to compete in provincial-level competitions and appear on the stage of a provincial mass cultural exhibition.
At this year's Jiangmen Mass Art Flower Fair (Music and Dance), Taishan's original musical piece "Huajian Ji: Prologue" and original dance work "Bamboo Weaving Shadows" both won gold awards. Among them, "Huajian Ji: Prologue" will represent Jiangmen at the Guangdong Provincial Mass Art Flower Fair finals in late October, while "Bamboo Weaving Shadows" will represent Jiangmen at the 9th "I'm OK" Guangdong全民 Talent Competition finals in November.
About the Program: "Huajian Ji: Prologue"
The piece was composed by Zhu Yingjun, associate researcher at the Taishan Cultural Center, drawing from the classic late-Ming dynasty wooden fish book "Huajian Ji." Built on a foundation of traditional folk instruments such as the daruan, xiao, and qinqin, paired with Taishan dialect singing and combined with modern arrangement techniques, it allows a four-century-old classic to flow and blend with Lingnan musical charm on stage, full of ancient elegance yet carrying modern tension, achieving an innovative expression of traditional quyi culture.
About the Program: "Bamboo Weaving Shadows"
The dance was choreographed by Guo Weijian, a staff member at the Taishan Cultural Center, with music composed by Lin Yali of the Jiangmen Cultural Center. It centers on the Taishan county-level intangible cultural heritage project "Taishan Chonglou Weaving." Dancers transform into nimble bamboo strips, using graceful body language of winding, shuttling, and interweaving to recreate the weaving scene, bringing the craftsmanship warmth of traditional handicraft and the vibrant atmosphere of the overseas Chinese hometown to the stage.
School-Local Collaboration Empowers, Masters Refine Works into Gems
Against the backdrop of advancing the "Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand Project" school-local cooperation, Xinghai Conservatory of Music has fully leveraged its advantages as a professional art institution, sending high-quality faculty to inject professional momentum into Taishan's mass artistic creation.
Tang Jiejie, associate professor in the Department of Ethnic Vocal Music at Xinghai Conservatory of Music, director of the Performance and Art Practice Teaching and Research Office, council member of the Guangdong Vocal Music Association, and doctoral candidate at the China Conservatory of Music, studied under Professor Qu Xuexuan and Professor Tao Mo, president of Xinghai Conservatory of Music. She studied under Professor Qu Xuexuan at the China Conservatory of Music Affiliated Middle School and undergraduate level, and under Professors Jin Tielin and Ma Qiuhua at the master's level.
Wang Zhifeng, lecturer and Ph.D. in ethnic percussion at the Department of Chinese Music at Xinghai Conservatory of Music, master's supervisor and top talent supervisor at Xinghai Conservatory of Music, council member of the Ethnic Percussion Committee of the Chinese National Orchestra Society, standing council member of the Guangdong National Orchestra Society, deputy director of the Ethnic Percussion Professional Committee of the Guangdong National Orchestra Society, and founder of the Tiantian Percussion Ensemble.
Yang Di, associate professor and deputy director of the Dance Studies Department at the Dance School of Xinghai Conservatory of Music, examiner for the Chinese Dancers Association's Chinese Children's Dance Grading Test, member of the Guangdong Dancers Association, and examiner for Xinghai Conservatory of Music's social art level examination. Over the years, she has been engaged in research on Chinese classical dance training, performance, choreography, and opera dance. She mainly teaches courses including "Chinese Classical Dance Basic Training," "Chinese Classical Dance Body Rhythm (Freehand and Prop Training)," and "Dance Repertoire Rehearsal." In recent years, she has devoted herself to the study and movement research of intangible heritage dance and traditional Cantonese opera staging.
After precise coaching and meticulous refinement by experts and professors from Xinghai Conservatory of Music, the artistic appeal and competitive performance level of Taishan's local original works have achieved a qualitative leap in key areas such as creative conception, musical arrangement, and stage presentation. The two outstanding works will successively advance to provincial competitions, becoming a shining example of Xinghai Conservatory of Music and Taishan jointly promoting the cultural empowerment of the "Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand Project."
Departments Coordinate to Pool Strength, Intangible Heritage with New Charm Ascends to Provincial Stage
While original works continue to emerge, with the professional support of Xinghai Conservatory of Music, the Taishan Cultural Center has actively explored new paths for integrating intangible cultural heritage with modern mass cultural activities, incorporating modern square dance art into the Taishan county-level intangible cultural heritage project of Southeast Asian Style Dance. The Taishan Education Bureau has actively coordinated and provided strong support, selecting a group of highly professional outstanding dance teachers to join the performance, meticulously organizing and going all out for the final sprint. Currently, the Southeast Asian Style Dance integrated with modern square dance art has successfully been selected for the 2026 Guangdong Provincial Square Dance Gala and will represent Jiangmen at the exhibition in mid-to-late November.
About the Program: Southeast Asian Style Dance
Taishan's "Haiqiao Southeast Asian Style Dance" is a distinctive dance popular in the former Haiyan Overseas Chinese Farm. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Haiyan Overseas Chinese Farm resettled a large number of refugees who returned from Southeast Asia due to anti-Chinese persecution. Most of these overseas Chinese were born in their countries of residence, were generally gifted in singing and dancing, and were familiar with and fond of various Southeast Asian style songs and dances. Based on these dances, locals condensed the history of the Haiyan Overseas Chinese Farm and the lives of the returned overseas Chinese into a choreographed performance. In 2008, the Haiqiao Southeast Asian Style Dance was included in the first batch of Taishan municipal-level intangible cultural heritage project lists.
Next, the Taishan Cultural Center will continue to use provincial competitions and exhibitions as opportunities to deepen the regular cooperation mechanism with Xinghai Conservatory of Music, exploring the full integration of professional art coaching into school-local co-constructed cultural tourism characteristic projects; using high-level professional forces to drive the cultivation of grassroots artistic talent, promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of the excellent traditional culture of the overseas Chinese hometown.
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