Arts education in rural areas

"Left toes pointed back, arms raised to your sides, knees bent, bodies slightly forward."

In Anxin County in north China's Hebei Province, 20 girls from Duan village elementary school's ballet group welcome guests to a sports event.

The performance filled Li Feng with pride, as he only established the Beijing Hefeng Art Foundation in 2013, to bring the arts to children in rural areas.

FOR ART'S SAKE

In 2012, Li laid down his golfs to spend his weekend promoting the arts in Duan Village. Since then, every Saturday he has driven voluntary teachers from the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing Dance Academy and Beijing Normal University to the remote village to teach the children.

However, despite his efforts, not everyone holds the arts in such high esteem. In December last year, when Li was watching the student's end of semester performance, he noticed that two of his favorite flute players were absent.

Their teacher said they had left the class, even though just two weeks before one had performed in Beijing with the school orchestra.

"They are in the sixth grade now and are afraid of failing their exams," a boy in the fifth grade told a Xinhua reporter.

Duan Village school was the first rural school to see the potential in offering its pupils art lessons.

"Art is not a dispensable part of education, it's like giving kids vitamins to aid growth, you need to start early," Li said. "It will inspire creativity," he said.

MORE THAN EXAMS

Despite the success of the initiative, the challenge is people's attitudes to the arts.

Li Jianxue, the headmaster of the school, said parents worry about their children's grades.

"The arts are the first to go if kids are failing in other subjects," he said.

"I can understand their concerns. In remote areas, education is often the only way out of poverty," said Lai Chao, the secretary-general of the Western Sunshine Foundation, who has been working in rural education for seven years.