Promotional material for Liu Sanjie Photo: Courtesy of Dongfang Nuan

Dance drama Liu Sanjie kicked off its nationwide tour on Wednesday at the Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center in Beijing. 

Liu Sanjie, literally "third sister of the Liu family," was a legendary folk singer. The folk tale about Liu, a young ethnic Zhuang girl, and her lover is so well-known in China that it has become a huge cultural symbol that has given rise to film and musical adaptations as well as a festival. 

Legend has it that Liu lived during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Belonging to the Zhuang ethnic group, one of the largest ethnic minorities in China, Liu lived in what is today the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in South China. Among the many versions of her story, one of the most popular is similar to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.   

According to the story, the 17-year-old Liu fell in love with a young man who was also good at singing. However, another local man from a powerful family who was enamored by Liu's beauty decided to break the couple apart by force, which led to the tragic death of the lovers.      

On the third day of the third month of the Chinese calendar, the day of Liu's death, locals in Guangxi hold singing, dancing and various other performances to commemorate Liu's willingness to fight against evil and pursue love.  

While there has been film and musical about the tale, the dance drama Liu Sanjie is the first of its kind. The drama features a large number of local folk songs and dances highlighting the culture of the ethnic Zhuang minority, while also incorporating modern and street dance, further adding vitality to the ancient folk tale.    

"This is the 2019 version of Liu Sanjie, instead of the 1960 [film] version of Liu Sanjie," noted Ding Wei, the director of the dance drama.

The dance drama pays tribute to the classic, rather than simply copying it, according to Ding.  

The dance drama was created to mark the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and debuted in Nanning, the regional capital, in 2018, according to a report from the Xinhua News Agency. 

The nationwide tour will include another 10 performances in cities such as Xiamen in Fujian Province and Ningbo in Zhejiang Province.