A dance performance at the press conference for the Beijing Dance Festival Photo: Courtesy of Daisy Zhang

The Beijing Dance Festival will be held July 16-28 this year. As summer reaches its peak in the capital, professional dancers and dance lovers from all over the world will share their experiences and thoughts on this art form at this international event.

After 11 years of development, the festival has become a major platform for dancers across the globe.

This is the fourth time the Beijing Dance Festival will be held at Beijing's Tianqiao Performing Arts Center. 

"It's very rare that audiences will be able to watch three modern dance performances in a single day in Beijing," said Jiang Tao, vice manager of Tianqiao Performing Arts Center. 

Members of China's Tianxia Yizhan network will also perform at the festival.

Tianxia Yizhan (lit: under the heaven's post house) is a modern dance network across 40 cities in China.

Through the network members can not only share information and experience, but also can organize dance creation, training and performance events.   

Additionally, a communication conference for members of Tianxia Yizhan will be held from July 23 to July 26. 

As to the festival schedule, a six-day training camp will be held in the first week. Tutors from 14 countries and regions including China, the US, Belgium and Italy will share their experience with young dancers.

The second week will be separated into several phases. Each phase will feature unique events as well as five to six dance shows performed by modern dancers from China and abroad.

What's more, a Youth Dance Show will be held to help up-and-coming dance stars. 

The event see five dancers chosen from 128 contestants from 53 cities and regions across China perform dance routines.