Dancer-choreographer, Wang Yuanyuan. [Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]

However, the turning point came in 2011 when she staged her controversial dance piece, The Golden Lotus, a stage adaptation of the 16th-century novel, widely considered to be one of China's most erotic works.

The dance piece was commissioned by the Hong Kong Arts Festival and premiered there, bringing Wang's company a lot of exposure and opportunities despite the controversy surrounding it.

For Han, who married Wang eight years after they first met, the company reached its peak after that performance, garnering a lot of invitations to tour abroad.

"Our shows have been booked until 2020 and we are proud to still have an international audience after so many years of hard work," he notes.

Han, who worked for the National Ballet of China for over a decade before he co-founded the Beijing Dance Theater in 2008, concludes: "It's her dream to choreograph new works and my job is to fulfill her vision."