US dancers from the Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre in Missoula, Montana performed at the Nanning Theater, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on Nov 2. The troupe’s show included selections from The White Haired Girl, a Chinese dance classic adapted from the opera of the same title. The audience applauded wildly at the end of the US version.

The story of The White-Haired Girl is about Xi'er, the daughter of a poor farmer. To pay the family’s debts she is sold to the despotic landlord Huang Shiren. After suffering immensely, she flees deep into the mountains, where she lives for many years without adequate food. Xi'er's hair turns white and she becomes known as the white-haired goddess. Fortunately she is rescued by the Red Army at last and reunited with her lover Da Chun.

US dancers from the Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre in Missoula, Montana perform The White Haired Girl, at the Nanning Theater, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on Nov 2. [Photo by Peng Huan/asianewsphoto.com]