Big serving of Latin American fare

[Photo provided to China Daily]

Julio Bocca, the director of Ballet Nacional SODRE, Uruguay's national ballet troupe, will also bring two dancers from the troupe, Maria Riccetto and Gustavo Carvalho, who will dance an extract from Don Quixote with ballet dancers Zhang Jian and Ma Xiaodong from the National Ballet of China.

Regarded as the most important Argentine dancer of the late 20th century, Bocca has been visiting China since the 1990s and he is very impressed by the development of ballet in China during the past 10 years.

Born in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, Bocca started learning ballet at 4. His talent was recognized at 18 when he won the gold medal at the International Ballet Competition in Moscow. He was then invited to join the American Ballet Theater. He later began to combine ballet with tango after meeting Ana Maria Stekelman, one of Argentina's leading choreographers, who is known for her fusion of tango and modern dance.

"If I have to introduce my hometown to the world, then dancing is the best way for me," says Bocca.

While the latest feast of Latin American culture in China will give the region even more exposure in China, the mainland has always had its links with the region.

As Zhang Yu, the president of the CAEG, says: "Latin American culture has a large influence in China but people may not be fully aware of it."

And, as an example, he points to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, the Colombian Nobel Prize laureate, whose beguiling stories of love and longing brought Latin America to life for millions of readers and put magical realism on the literary map.

For Zhang, introducing the more colorful cultural elements of Latin America to Chinese audiences has been a longtime dream.

He started learning Spanish at Beijing Foreign Studies University in 1978 and worked at a Culture Ministry unit for Latin American exchange programs a few years later.

"This gala will mark the beginning of the cultural year and more events will be held in China and Latin American countries as a two-way street for people to communicate," he says.

Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn