In this richly cosmopolitan city, viewers can readily be exposed to many different kinds of dance, from ballet to modern to jazz, and from Irish step-dancing to South Asian Bharata Natyam. But the variety of styles available here pales next to those that can be found in China, where at least 52 different ethnic folk-dance forms share the stage with various classical and contemporary idioms. From the disputed mountains of Tibet in the west to cosmopolitan Shanghai in the east, each region has its own distinctive repertoire of movements, and two of these will be featured when the Chen Ling Academy of Dance mounts a Dance Allsorts showcase at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre at 2 p.m. on Sunday (May 29).

"We'll be presenting a Mongolian dance and a Tibetan dance," says Academy administrator Theresa Lee, on the line from her day job at a local school for beauticians. Asked how the two differ from each other, Lee alludes to the way China's diverse topography has influenced its many dance styles. "The Mongolians live on the plains, on the steppes," she says, "and their dance has an almost masculine quality to it-a sense of authority. But the Tibetans live in the mountains and they wear big boots to protect their feet from the cold and the rocks, so their movement tends to be lower, closer to the ground."

Folk dances are not all that will be presented by Chen Ling and her students; the Langzhou-born choreographer maintains strong links to the Beijing Academy, and has trained in ballet as well as Chinese classical dance. Her protégés benefit from a diverse curriculum that even includes classes in jazz and hip-hop dance styles-although not for performance. "Chen Ling includes those so the dancers can get a fuller sense of their own capabilities," says Lee, who has previously studied with the Goh Ballet Academy and the Lorita Leung Chinese Dance Company. But she stresses that most of the training is rooted in a more formal understanding of the body, one rooted in ancient Chinese healing arts such as tai chi and qigong. "In Chinese dance, all movement is initiated by the breath," she explains. "Some of the techniques are similar to Indian dance, and sometimes we work from postures taken from ancient paintings and sculptures found in caves-sculptures and paintings of Buddhas and fairies."

Lee adds that Chinese dance emphasizes flexibility as much as or even more than strength; between that and the colourful ethnic costumes that will be used in the Mongolian and Tibetan dances, Sunday's performance should be visually spectacular. But those interested in learning more about Chinese dance are also invited to take part in a pay-what-you-can workshop beginning at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, at the Scotiabank Dance Centre. Given Chen's reputation as a teacher-she mentored rising choreographic star Wen Wei Wang, among many others-this promises to be a fascinating introduction to an array of dance styles that may seem exotic today, but that are quickly becoming an integral part of Vancouver's cultural fabric.