Riverdance tells the story of Irish history and culture through its thrilling tap dance. But on Saturday night, artists from China's Inner Mongolia will perform their own culture's version, Legends of Grasslands.

Featuring hundreds of folk performers, dazzling sets and splendid costumes, Legends of the Grasslands kicks off the 2007 Meet In Beijing Arts Festival on Saturday night at the Great Hall of the People.

Directed by Deng Lin in three scenes Sacrifices to Ancestors, Glorify Khan and Laud the Grasslands the show features a variety of Mongolian folk music, dance and storytelling. Many of these musical forms, such as holboo, uliger and khoomei, are vanishing.

Uliger is the general term given to tales and popular myths of the Mongol and Buryat peoples of Mongolia and northeast Asia. They are an important part of the oral traditions of the Buryats and other Siberian tribes.

Khoomei, called "throat singing" in English, is a mysterious form of vocalism in which the singer sings with two voices simultaneously. Performers resonate a low vibrato in their mouth, which they keep going while emitting an additional overtone. They change the quality of the sounds by opening and closing their mouths.

Holboo is a variety of Mongolian storytelling in which the narrator (huurch) recites a poem in a musical tone, usually while also playing the sihu. It is especially popular in eastern Inner Mongolia.

There are two kinds of holboo: monologue holboo and dialogue holboo. Monologue holboo is performed by a huurch, who tells the story and plays sihu as a solo performance.

Dialogue holboo is called "dairalchaa" in Mongolian, which means "retort to each other with challenging questions". Two people perform dairalchaa without instruments, drawing upon their common knowledge to debate until one of them wins.

(China Daily April 28, 2007)