ETHNIC dance queen Yang Liping has been called the "Sorceress of Dance," the "Goddess of Dance" and the "Peacock Princess," compared over the years with the majestic and haughty peacock that she famously portrays.

Yang's passion for ethnic dance from Yunnan Province where she grew up, her obvious talent, her extraordinary shape (standing 165 centimeters tall, weighing just 45 kilograms) and her determination to succeed combined to make her China's best-known ethnic dancer.

She is also known for being forceful and individualistic, persisting at a time of conformity when individualism was criticized. She is single-minded and stubborn, going her own way, rejecting the rules and formal dance training. She largely studied and trained on her own. She used to seize the moment, step forward and dominate a group scene as other dancers moved to the background.

Not surprisingly she didn't have many friends or supporters in her early years. It is said that her interpretation of the proud and aloof peacock is drawn from her own experience of self-imposed isolation.

Today Yang has received numerous dance awards and runs her own "ecological" dance company, the Dynamic Yunnan Troupe, which tours internationally and is dedicated to preserving and perpetuating ethnic music and dance.

It's comprised of untrained Yunnan villagers who sing and dance with spontaneity and haven't forgotten the ancient rhythms and how to play, for example, the Divine Drums of the Luchun tribe. Like Yang they have not been trained, but are told to observe nature, exaggerate their movements and deliver a high-octane performance that leaves them drenched with sweat.

"Folk dance has degenerated in ethnic villages, which are increasingly enclosed by cities. Villagers' living patterns have changed but intangible dance culture needs to be preserved and passed on. I'm doing my best to achieve this in my lifetime."

"I employ folk artists to teach and turn local people into dancers on stage - I build a system that facilitates development of dance, so at least we can inherit some culture. Many people preach about preserving culture, but only a few puts theory into practice - I did it."

Yang is designing, choreographing and staring in the show "Peacock," but license will be held by the Hangzhou Golden Coast Theater Company and a Yunnan theater. It is expected to premiere in 2012. Yang was recently in Hangzhou to sign the contract and spoke with Shanghai Daily, also answering questions in a telephone interview.

When she met Shanghai Daily, she was dressed dramatically in a richly embroidered ethnic vest, a long colorful skirt, long earrings that reached her chest, a trendy dark leather hat and large-framed, bright-red eyeglasses.

Though she is in her 50s, she remains supple - many would say gaunt - and her hair falls to her waist.

Because of her very low body mass index and lack of body fat she has not been able to have children. She was divorced once and now is married to a Taiwanese restaurant owner. "My understanding of family is that a little ant can be my son, while dance can be my loveliest child," she said in the interview.

"All in all, to achieve something, you have to learn to discipline yourself."

There's a saying in Yunnan: "Every leaf can dance, every stone can sing. Even the sounds of the butterfly moving its wings are beats, and the sounds of millet growing are melodies."

This is the animist sense that informs her works.

Yang is known for spectaculars that she choreographed and directed, including "Dynamic Yunnan," "Echoes of Shangri-la" (also called "Sound of Yunnan"), and "Tibetan Myth" all drawing on the natural environment and folk cultures of southwestern China. Her signature piece is "Soul of the Peacock," based on ancient tribal peacock dances.

Yang was born in 1958 into a poor family of Bai minority farmers in Eryuan County in northwest Yunnan Province. She and her three brothers and sisters were all reared by their mother alone.

When she was little she danced, as did all the villagers. Music and dance were in the air. People danced for everything, such as births and funerals, weddings, harvests and sacrifices. They danced spontaneously as they wanted to.

She learned to dance by watching others and by watching how nature moved.

"I observed how clouds vary, how butterfly flutter, and how elephants walk. I put those natural beauties in my dance," she told Shanghai Daily. "This is where ethnic dances come from - they are grown from the earth.

"My grandmother was a great dancer. She once told me that dancing is communion with god. The true meaning of this did not dawn on me until many years later. Now, whenever I raise my arms to dance, soulful and religious, I can feel them reaching out to limitless space, to the gods who would take my hands and lift my soul from my body, to an ethereal state of sublime serenity," she wrote on her website.

Ethnic roots

One day when she was 13 years old, she was exercising at school and a talent scout from the state-owned Yunnan Xishuangbanna Troupe offered her a position and 30 yuan monthly pay. She immediately joined the troupe that provided free entertainment to villagers around Yunnan, often performing on farms and in village squares.

They trouped from village to village, staying a while, working in the fields by day and putting on shows at night. For nearly eight years Yang danced throughout the countryside, learning about different customs, dances, songs and musical instruments.

"During that time, I accumulated my most precious life's treasures," she said. Yunnan is home to 51 of China's 55 ethnic groups.

She learned the dances of many ethnic groups, including the famous Dai peacock dance, the Yi nationality tiger dance, the Wa people's sun dance and many others.

Nevertheless, her ambition drove away many of her peers, especially during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76) when individualism was criticized.

"When dancing, she insists on asserting herself in every movement, so in a group dance, while others retreated, she was still there, wielding the power," Yang's younger sister Xiao Si once told the People's Daily.

She was criticized for showing off and had few friends. This resulted in a situation in which she had to train alone and learned little from the professionals.

Success was almost accidental.

In 1979, when the troop took "Peacock Princess" abroad, Yang was the understudy for star, who fell ill. Yang stepped in and performed spectacularly as the soloist, improvising and making the role her own. She brought the audience to its feet. Her own company hadn't realized her brilliance until then. After that, she always danced the leading role.

In 1980 Yang joined the state-run Chinese Ethnic Arts Troupe in Beijing, the country's best, and encountered the same problems as before. She didn't fit in.

"The rigid training didn't suit me," she said. "I was ordered to practice a routine similar to ballet, but I could not do it; I found my body was frozen."

Yang did not train with the group - since it was state-run, she could not be fired. In the daytime, she watched videos of dance and slept; at night when a studio was available, she practiced on her own for hours.

"Art needs individuality," Yang said. "Back in those days people generally lacked individuality, but I was trying to figure it out."

In 1986, her troupe would not allow her to take part in the Second All China Dance Competition. Her solo "Soul of the Peacock," which she had created, was not deemed representative of the troupe. Undeterred, Yang decided to send her video tape to the competition by herself. She rode her bicycle to register, but was refused.

"An official told me I could not register as an individual - only as part of a troupe and I was in tears," Yang recalled. But the official took her tape anyway and promised to play it for judges when they broke for a rest.

He did. And the judges named Yang No. 1 in both on choreography and in dance.

She was later asked why she thought she had won.

"Because I don't have any competition!" she blurted out. "They are all professional, I just practice by myself."

In 1990, she performed her "Soul of Peacock" at the closing ceremony of the 11th Asian Games. She delighted her wider Asian audience and her reputation as Peacock Princess was sealed.

She developed a dance style of power and precision, inspired by nature. Her movements are stripped of trivialities and meaningless gestures. What's left are sinuous moves that form the silhouettes of a tree, a fish, a bird or snake, creatures that she brings to life and communes with.

From then to 2000, Yang's career was smooth. She choreographed many of her own ethnic-style dances, won numerous awards performed in more than 50 countries.

But she missed her roots and inspiration in Yunnan. "That's where my life is supposed to be," she said. She began to search for her roots, walking as much as possible, instead of traveling by car and staying with farmers, not in hotels.

"I was enchanted by the vast number of folk songs and dances that I encountered," she said.

At that time she began to worry that urbanization would lead to the extinction of ethnic folk dance and music.

Saving tribal dance

"When I realized there were only a couple of old drummers alive who could play the Divine Drum of the Luchun tribe, I was heartbroken," she said. "The only thing one could do was to take the matter into my own hands and act fast," she told Shanghai Daily.

Yang used her own savings to create and produce "Dynamic Yunnan - In Search of Shangri-la," her first dance drama. It's an ethnic extravaganza of song and dance.

More than 75 percent of the performers were local farmers discovered by Yang in remote villages where tribal dances and rituals were still performed. They were mostly from the Yi, Miao, Tibetan, Dai, Bai, Wa and Hani ethnic groups. Not only the music, but also all the costumes and props were and remain authentic, not reproduced for the stage.

That was the beginning of Dynamic Yunnan Troupe, which includes more than 60 members. "They are simple folks who only dance for love and for life," Yang said. "The joy that emanates from them is the true spirit of this musical production."

From 2000 to 2003 Yang personally funded the operation. She herself lived in a small unfurnished room with just a bed. Once the troupe couldn't pay the rent on a studio and everyone was thrown out.

When funds ran low, Yang herself performed in advertisements to support the troupe - that's why people saw a lot of her on TV in those days.

Asked how she overcome difficulties and artistic and personal isolation, she said in the interview, "I have to conquer. What else can I do? Commit suicide?"

She sounded upbeat. "The times are good. The "cultural revolution" (1966-76) is over. I had so many opportunities. I don't really think there is anything that can obstruct me, except forces of nature and natural disasters."