On September 11^th, the NCPA Dance Festival 2018 will kick off as dance lovers have expected every year. In the upcoming 103 days from early autumn to midwinter, more than ten famed Chinese and foreign dance ensembles will gather in Beijing to give 42 virtuoso performances of 16 works to offer audience a feast of dance.

Roméo et Juliette by Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève

To be performed at the dance festival are eight full-length ballets, including authentic classical ballets, ingenious contemporary ballets and national ballets with Chinese characteristics. On September 11^th-12^th, Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève will bring their Roméo et Juliette to unveil the Festival. Everybody knows the story of Romeo and Juliet, but Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève de-emphasizes the historical background of Roméo et Juliett, simplifies set design, and draws audience’s attention to the love-and-hate story and the body beauty.


On September 20^th-23^rd, the Kharkiv National Opera and Ballet Theatre, an ensemble full of energy, will appear with Swan Lake and La Bayadère, led by principal dancers of the Mariinsky Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet.

On October 11^th-14^th, The Australian Ballet's The Sleeping Beauty will make its world premiere at the NCPA Dance Festival 2018. On the basis of respecting the classical ballet vocabulary, the director makes the stage a fantasy kingdom with unique ingenuity.

 

On November 20^th-21^st, Queensland Ballet will bring audience A Midsummer Night's Dream. The choreographer gives the classic drama immortal vitality with magic and humour and tells this story about love, hate and identity misplacement in the form of an adventurous trip.


With great personal charisma, Roberto Bolle will make his NCPA debut with his popular gala on November 10^th-11^th. Five top principal dancers from major ballet companies around the world will stage seven extraordinary dances with Bolle to stir the hearts of audience in his Robert Bolle and Friends.

As for Chinese ballet, on September 15^th-16^th, National Ballet of China will stage an impressive piece with distinctive national characteristics—The Crane Calling, an original classic ballet after The Red Detachment of Women. On November 16^th-17^th, Liaoning Ballet of China will perform original ballet Mulan from a contemporary perspective to interpret heroine HUA Mulan’s filial piety and loyalty, as well as feelings for the home and country.


The feast of ballet will write a romantic chapter on the toes, while modern dance is going to ignite the sparks of inspiration in collision between fashion-forward ideas. Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s sister ensemble Cloud Gate 2 has created and performed works of the wild and fresh stage style, and winning favour from audiences. On October 26^th-28^th, Cloud Gate 2 will lead them into the depth of the twittering ballads of Taiwan in 13 TONGUES, adapted from a story that took place on Monga Street in the 1960s.



On October 30^th-31^st, Martha Graham Dance Company, which toured China three years ago, will return with five stunning dances. If you are a lover of the “avant-garde”, you might as well come on November 3^rd-4^th, when GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, a front-runner in contemporary dance, will show their novel artistic idea and profound philosophy in Wise Man and Untitled Black.


To broaden dance exchanges between China and the world, Chinese A-list choreographers and young dancers will be invited to show audiences the strength of Chinese dance with sincerity. On September 17^th-18^th, new-generation dancer ZHAO Liang, who is good at skillfully blending space, vision and music with dance, will appear with Martial Art in Dance, a fusion of martial arts and modern dance.


On November 23^rd-24^th, LI Xing will appear at the dance festival with Grand Hotel, a new work by his studio. On December 8^th-9^th, Deep in Memory, a dance drama starring TANG Shiyi, directed by national class-A choreographer TONG Ruirui, will be put on stage. This dance drama begins with Chinese-American writer ZHANG Chun’s exploration on the Nanjing Massacre and then unfolds amid relatively independent pieces that corroborate one another to face up to history from various angles, to hold a memorial ceremony for the sufferings unforgettable to the Chinese nation.

At this dance festival, the NCPA will, as always, let some dancers make their debut with new works. On October 13^th, 15^th and 17^th, seven rising stars will appear at the performance of Chinese Young Choreographers' Works with seven pieces to present the great vitality of Chinese modern dance creation. This December will witness the return of the commissioned NCPA dance drama The Railway to Tibet, which will ring down the curtain of the NCPA Dance Festival 2018.