Students from Beijing Dance Academy perform dance movements of Uygur ethnic groups. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"When we decided to do the exhibition, we wanted to present a look at Chinese ethnic folk dance through a fresh perspective. Thus, we work with the college of public art of the China Academy of Art to bring an exhibition featuring artworks beyond music and dance," says Huang.

In 1980, 31 Chinese young people became the first group of students of the university, who gained a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese ethnic folk dance. Their photos of training in classrooms, lives in the university and dancing onstage are being displayed during the exhibition, reviewing the past six decades of the history of Chinese ethnic folk dance of Beijing Dance Academy.

Huang notes that during the past six decades, students and teachers have traveled nationwide to learn and collect firsthand materials of Chinese ethnic folk dance. For example, they've recently invited dancers from the haiyang yangko (a popular folk dance in Haiyang, Yantai, Shandong province) team to give workshops and the dance team was invited to give a show during the exhibition.