'Peacock' dancer's company flocks to financial markets

Yang Liping Arts to raise funds for global expansion of its performances

Performing arts company Yang Liping Arts and Culture Co Ltd will raise funds from the capital markets for domestic and overseas expansion, senior executives said.

As part of this process, it will list on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, an over-the-counter market that is China's third bourse - the first performing arts company on the exchange. 

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"With a series of capital infusions, we plan to create and perform more excellent shows in China and abroad to spread Chinese ethnical culture," said General Manager Wang Yanwu.

Wang said the company is talking with potential investors and will release financial results later.

The company did not say how much it intends to raise.

In 2012, Shenzhen Capital Group Co Ltd, a leading private equity firm, took a 30 percent stake in the company for 30 million yuan ($4.9 million).

Famed "peacock dancer" and director Yang Liping, who recently retired from performing, is the chairwoman of Yang Liping Arts and Culture.

She said that the company will launch a new production of Ambush from All Sides. The show is based on legends from Chinese history based on a decisive battle in 202 BC at Gaixia (southeast of the present Linbi county, Anhui province) between the Chu and Han armies. It will incorporate folk dance, modern dance and Peking opera.

It is expected to debut in Beijing next October. The company has also been invited to perform at the Helsinki Festival and Auckland Arts Festival.

The company has four main shows (The Peacock, Dynamic Yunnan, The Sounds of Yunnan and Mystery of Tibet) and a permanent theater in Kunming.

Wang said that Dynamic Yunnan, an original stage show based on ethnic traditions, has regular performances in Kunming.

The Peacock, a large-scale dance drama about a peacock that is intended as an allegory for the human condition, had been performed about 200 times during tours in the Chinese mainland as of June 30. Another four shows were held in Hong Kong and 14 in Japan.

Yang Liping Arts and Culture will also invest about 50 million yuan to build a new theater in Dali, Yunnan. The construction will be finished in 2015. Another theater in Lijiang, Yunnan, is being rebuilt and will also be finished next year.

As for global plans, Wang said the company's initial focus will be on Southeast Asia. The first stop will be Malaysia next month, when Dynamic Yunnan will tour the country.

According to Xu Xiang at Shenzhen Capital Group Co Ltd, investing in arts and culture is still in its infancy in China, and many venture capitalists and investors remain skeptical about it, much as many remain nervous about investing in such new sectors as biotechnology.

In 2013, there were 1.94 million performances in China that generated revenue of 13.1 billion yuan, down 2.9 percent year-on-year, according to the China Association of Performing Arts Industry.

Chinese dancing master Yang Liping (L) performs in her dance drama "The Peacock" during the first Yang Liping International Dance Festival inKunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan province, Dec 19, 2013. [Photo/Xinhua]