National Ballet of China

Performance of The Red Detachment of Women during Nixon's visit to China in 1972

The National Ballet of China (NBC), known in China as the Central Ballet Troupe was founded on 31 December 1959.^[1] It is the mainland Chinese national ballet troupe.

The ballet company works from the Tianqiao Theater, this was specifically built for NBC in 1959, and it was renovated in 2001. This theater is one of a handful of such theaters in China that specialize in ballet and opera performances.

History

In 1954, the first ballet school in China, Beijing Dance School, was established, and in the following years ballets such as Swan Lake and Romeo and Juliet were performed.^[2] Later in 1959 the National Ballet of China was founded as the Experimental Ballet Company of the Beijing Dance School.^[3] Two persons made their mark on both the school and the company - Dai Ailian who was the principal of the school and one of the ballet company directors, and Pyotr Gusev who instituted the Russian training system that formed the technical foundation for the company.^[3]

During the Cultural Revolution, the company came under the control of Madame Mao and Dai Ailian was sidelined. In this period, Revolutionary Model dramas came to the fore, and the repertory of the company was eventually reduced to two sanctioned ballets - The Red Detachment of Women and The White Haired Girl. After the fall of the Gang of Four in 1976, Ailian returned as director until 1980 and then continued as artistic adviser. The ballet company began to reform and change direction with the classical Western ballets resurrected, and it also broadened its range to include more modern ballets from around the world.^[3] In 1994, Zhao Ruheng (赵汝蘅), who had been a company dancer since 1959, took over as its artistic director.^[4] In 2009, Feng Ying was appointed artistic director of the company.^[5]

The Company

The current director is Feng Ying (冯英), with Wang Quanxing (王全兴) as deputy, and Wang Caijun (王才军) the répétiteur. The company has its own orchestra, which is directed and conducted by Zhang Yi (张艺).^[3]^[6]

The company employs over 70 dancers.^[7] Many NBC dancers have won gold, silver and bronze medals at various international ballet competitions.

Principal dancers (2012-2013)

Zhu Yan (朱妍)
Zhang Jian (张剑)
Wang Qimin (王启敏)

Repertoire

NBC has toured internationally and produced and performed many Chinese and Western ballets. According to its current director Feng Ying, there are three components in the repertoire of the company: Chinese ballets, 19th century Western classic, and 20th century ballet.^[5] They have also collaborated on contemporary dance pieces.^[4] Their repertoire includes:

Chinese Works

Red Detachment of Women
Raise the Red Lantern^[8]
Song of the Yimeng Mountain
Ambush from Ten Sides
Yellow River
Liang Zhu
The New Year Sacrifice
The Wedding Chamber
The Peony Pavilion^[9]

Western Works

References

↑ http://www.ballet.org.cn/en/jutuanjieshao.htm About NBC at the website of the National Ballet of China
↑ Richard Gunde (2001). Culture and Customs of China. Greenwood. pp. 108–109. ISBN 978-0313361180.
1 2 3 4 Sanjoy Roy (11 August 2011). "Step-by-step guide to dance: National Ballet of China". The Guardian.
1 2 Sarah Crompton (26 July 2008). "National Ballet of China: 'Our conductor killed himself in his lunch hour'". The Daily Telegraph.
1 2 Kevin Ng (1 March 2009). "Feng Ying, Artistic Director, National Ballet of China". balletco.
↑ "National Ballet of China".
↑ "Dancers". National Ballet of China.
↑ Paul Kooperman, (11 August 2009 09:15), Melbourne: Reviews: Raise the Red Lantern by the National Ballet of China, Australian Stage
↑ Chen Jie (19 April 2011) ChinaDaily.com: The Stage Is Set (accessed 14 Aug 2011)

External links

Official website (English)
National Ballet of China at China.org.cn (English)

Ballet companies

Africa	Cairo Opera Ballet Company Cape Town City Ballet

Asia	Ballet Manila Ballet Philippines Guangzhou Ballet Hong Kong Ballet Iranian National Ballet Company Israel Ballet K-ballet Korea National Ballet National Ballet of China Philippine Ballet Theatre Shanghai Ballet Company Singapore Dance Theatre State Ballet of Georgia Tokyo Ballet Universal Ballet

Europe	Ballet Cymru Les Ballets Persans Barcelona Ballet Bayerisches Staatsballett Béjart Ballet Berlin State Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Cork City Ballet Royal Danish Ballet Donetsk Ballet Dutch National Ballet Eifman Ballet English National Ballet Finnish National Ballet Sukhishvili Georgian National Ballet Greek National Opera Hamburg Ballet Hungarian National Ballet Kiev Ballet La Scala Theatre Ballet Mariinsky Ballet Mikhailovsky Theatre Ballet National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Moldova The Monte-Carlo Ballet National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria Northern Ballet Norwegian National Opera and Ballet Novosibirsk Theatre Ballet Original Ballet Russe Paris Opera Ballet Perm Theatre Ballet Polish National Ballet National Ballet of Portugal The Royal Ballet (London) Rambert Dance Company Russian State Ballet of Siberia Saint Petersburg Ballet Theatre Scottish Ballet Spanish National Dance Company Stanislavski Ballet Stuttgart Ballet Royal Swedish Ballet Théâtre du Silence Turkish State Opera and Ballet

North America	American Ballet Theatre Anaheim Ballet Atlanta Ballet Ballet BC Ballet Des Moines Ballet Magnificat! Boston Ballet Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Carolina Ballet Cleveland Ballet Cincinnati Ballet Cuban National Ballet Dayton Ballet Houston Ballet Joffrey Ballet Los Angeles Ballet National Ballet of Canada National Ballet Theater of Puerto Rico New Jersey Ballet New York City Ballet Oklahoma City Ballet Oregon Ballet Theatre Pacific Northwest Ballet Pennsylvania Ballet Pittsburgh Ballet San Francisco Ballet Tulsa Ballet Royal Winnipeg Ballet

Oceania	The Australian Ballet Queensland Ballet Royal New Zealand Ballet West Australian Ballet

South America	Ballet Municipal de Lima Chilean National Ballet Colon Theater Ballet Teatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, August 09, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.