National Ballet plans annual public assessment

About 50 ballet dancers of the National Ballet of China will perform on May 7 and 8 at Tianqiao Theater, featuring programs of classic ballet productions by the company, such as The Red Detachment of Women, Swan Lake, Don Quixote and Giselle.

The two shows will be the company's annual public assessment, a project titled Chasing Dreams, which was initiated by the company's president Feng Ying in 2012.

Besides offering young ballet dancers a platform to display themselves, the shows also aim to train and inspire the dancers.

Many young dancers grew up displaying their talent at the annual public assessment, such as ballerinas Qiu Yunting and Xu Yan, who will perform Qiong Hua, the leading role in original Chinese ballet production, The Red Detachment of Women, during the shows. Fang Mengying and Zheng Yu will perform a pas de deux in the company's other original ballet piece, Crane Whisperer, a Chinese version of Swan Lake. Xu Yan and Wang Jiyu will perform Rubies, the second part of Russian choreographer George Balanchine's classic three-act ballet, Jewels.