Chinese dancer Yang Liping will present her dance drama “The Peacock” at the Shenzhen Poly Theater in December.

    It is a story about maturation, human nature, living and loving as well as the interplay and fusion between life and cosmic forces. Each character in the dance drama represents different facets of human nature: light and enlightenment, dedication and sacrifice, fear and greed.

    Human weaknesses are revealed time and again in the complex and painful entanglements faced by the characters in the drama, yet in the end, through dedication and love, they find the answer to life in the rotation of the seasons. This is at once a story about a peacock and more so an allegory for humanity.

    Yang is of the Bai ethnic group of Yunnan and developed a passion for dance when she was young. Although never formally trained in any dance academy, she is naturally gifted and, powered by an unusual imagination, she has become an internationally renowned dance artist. She came into prominence with “Spirit of the Peacock,” which she choreographed and performed herself, in 1986. Over the years, Yang has been on many artistic exchange tours to various parts of the world, in a bid to promote and explore dance as an art form.

    Since 2001, she has dazzled the nation with her song and dance spectaculars “Dynamic Yunnan — In Search of Shangri-La,” “Tibetan Myth” and “Echoes of Shangri-La” and with an evergreen image that she never ages.

    As a choreographer and dancer, Yang has taken her inspiration from folk culture, nature, the earth and various forms of art. She stays close to her own soil but, in spirit, she is a born transcendentalist.

    Time: 8 p.m., Dec. 9

    Tickets: 100-980 yuan

    Venue: Shenzhen Poly Theater, intersection of Wenxin Road 5 and Houhaibin Road, Nanshan District (南山区后海滨路与文心五路交界处深圳保利剧院)

    Metro: Shekou Line, Houhai Station (后海站), Exit E(SD News)