Hello! I’m Sarah Williams. I feel honoured 【小题1】(be) here and to share with you the story of how music has had an impact 【小题2】 my life.

I 【小题3】(diagnose) with a serious disease which was difficult to cure two years ago. Afraid and 【小题4】(discourage), I thought I didn’t have much longer to live. Fortunately, a song 【小题5】(call) “Happy” appeared when I had to go through a two-hour medical treatment.

【小题6】 music meant to me was the medicine of the mind. 【小题7】(listen) to music gave me happiness and made my spirits fly like a kite in the wind. And music gave me strength and brought me 【小题8】(relieve). In addition, music gave me hope and 【小题9】 sense of satisfaction. It was my best friend that spoke words of encouragement to the deepest part of my being.

We all go through various 【小题10】(period) when we feel sad or alone. Music is the thing that can help you in the same way that it helped me.

Guided by Chinese choreographer (编舞者) Fei Bo, I traveled from London to Beijing for 【小题1】purpose of experiencing the traditions of Chinese dance and creating a brand-new piece inspired 【小题2】this meeting of the East and the West.

The thought of traveling to Beijing was so exciting for me. Classical ballet 【小题3】(base) on very particular concepts of beauty, much of 【小题4】is rooted in the Greek concept: everything in a good relation to everything else.

But of course, other art forms and cultures have quite different ideas of beauty. These ideas are 【小题5】(typical) expressed with little gestures of the hand or head. Such movements have a shared 【小题6】(culture) meaning understood by onlookers because it is part of their tradition — it’s beautiful to them.

Among the main 【小题7】(challenge) I experienced out there was trying to understand its unique form of ballet. While I could always admire Chinese and Asian dance from a distance, I 【小题8】(feel) that I could never really understand the 【小题9】(deep) of meaning — and everything that comes with it — until putting myself in the culture first hand.

After two days in Chinese culture, Fei Bo and I combined our influences from the East and the West 【小题10】(create) something new: a combination of dancing cultures.

Traditional lion and dragon dances are 【小题1】 important part of Chinese cultural celebrations, especially in the Spring Festival. The dances may also be performed at business openings, weddings, or other special 【小题2】 (occasion).

In the lion dance, dancers wear masks and costumes, 【小题3】 (perform) a dance that imitate (模仿) the movements of a lion. There are 【小题4】 (usual) two dancers. One acts 【小题5】 the head and the other the body. There are no native lions in China, so the 【小题6】 (appear) of the lions is based on that of the lions which 【小题7】 (bring) to China during the Han Dynasty. Many lion dances may include lions playing with a large ball, 【小题8】 may imitate a fight between lions.

In the dragon dance teams dancers carry a long dragon on poles. By moving the poles, the dancers can make the dragon move forward slowly. The 【小题9】 (long) the dragon, the more luck it will bring to the community. As a result, communities try to have very long dragons dancing during the Spring Festival. Chinese dragons may appear frightening, but have a kind, helpful character, and symbolize good luck. That makes 【小题10】 (they) very popular during the Spring Festival.