Precision performance

The dance, she added, allows her to "forget the regret of not being able to hear, and harvest countless moments of joy".

Shanxi is known for its rich variety of wheat food stuffs. The dance vividly depicts the rural scenes of farmers making oat flour kaolaolao, with the dancers gracefully moving around a giant "steamer", mimicking actions such as kneading dough, handling hot surfaces and covering their ears from the steam.

Unseen by the audience, two dance teachers stand on the stage corners, silently conveying the dance rhythm through precise and expressive gestures.

The dancers, with an average age of less than 16, all hail from the Taiyuan School for the Deaf in Shanxi. They were selected from more than 300 students and had no prior professional dance experience. They dedicated over a year to perfecting the three-and-a-half-minute routine.

For 16-year-old Li Jiahui, another member of the group, her lack of hearing once fueled intense self-doubt. "Although I had never danced before, the thought of the joy of dancing made me sign up without hesitation," Li said.

"It was incredibly difficult at first. I had to repeatedly practice the movements, my knees covered in bruises. It was tiring and hard," she added. "Sometimes I wanted to give up, but my love for dance kept me going."