Stuttgart Ballet's principal dancer Friedemann Vogel will perform Romeo with NBC's ballerina Wang Qimin as Juliet in Beijing. [Photo by Wang Chongwei/China Daily]

Vogel then passed an audition for the John Cranko School and later received a scholarship to study with Marika Besobrasova at the Academie de Danse Classique Princesse Grasse in Monaco.

He then won many international ballet competitions and joined Stuttgart Ballet in 1998.

"The hard part of the job is the stress of always being ready for a performance.

"I travel a lot and whenever you arrive, you have to be in best condition. It seems my life is always about packing, changing costumes and luggage," Vogel says, recounting his journey.

Immediately after the Beijing show, Vogel will fly to Moscow to dance in MacMillan's Manon.

In Stuttgart, he arrives at his rehearsal room around 10:30 am daily and leaves at 6:30 pm.

"Every day is a battle. There are always ups and downs. But thanks to the great music in the rehearsal room every morning, when you feel down, you put your back up, put your neck up to the music, then you move and you feel better," he adds.

If you go

Romeo and Juliet

7:30 pm, April 20-24, Tianqiao Theater. No 30 Beiwei Road, Xicheng district, Beijing. 010-8315-6337.