Multicultural pop star Sa readies for national tour

Pop singer Sa Dingding continues her experiment in blending multicultural elements in her latest album, The Butterfly Dream.

Speaking of his two-year collaboration with Sa, his first with a Chinese musician, Kale tells Rolling Stone India: "At first I was hesitant when I heard Chinese pop, but when I found out who Sa Dingding was and checked out what she had done, I became excited.

"After realizing that she, too, is part traditionalist and part futurist, the possibilities became very intriguing for me as a producer."

During an October performance at London's Lancaster House with President Xi Jinping and his wife, Peng Liyuan, in the audience, Sa shared the stage with the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain and a choir from Xiaoshuijing village, Yunnan province, which comprises ethnic Miao people and ethnic Yi dancers. She mixed two of her hits, Joy Festival and As the Shadow Follows, with Beethoven's Ode to Joy.

Sa says: "We prepared about six months for the four-minute performance. It was such a magnificent view when different cultures merged on one stage."

Sa was born to a Han father and an ethnically Mongolian mother. She graduated from the People's Liberation Army Academy of Art in Beijing and rose to fame after winning second place in the pop music performance category of CCTV's National Young Singers Competition in 2000.

At 18, she was considered one of the country's best dance-music singers after releasing her debut album, Dong Ba La, in which she performed electronic dance music.

However, she boldly decided to withdraw from the music scene and embarked on a roots-searching journey, traveling to Xilinhot of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, where she grew up with her grandmother until moving to Jinan, Shandong province, at age 6. She had missed the nomadic lifestyle, in which she enjoyed singing freely.

"Compared with dance music, I found those sounds much more comforting and healing. From then on, I want to make music that connects with people spiritually," she says.

Now living in Beijing, Sa says that her life is simple, "having three meals a day, taking care of my family and traveling".

As for her musical ambitions, she says: "I want to be the kind of singer-songwriter who can pass on energy."