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Zhang Yimou's ballet "Raise the Red Lantern", which was premiered in 2001, won acclaim for the company last season when it was performed in London and Paris. The sell-out London season at Sadler's Wells Theatre was a triumph for the company, which has been nominated as one of three finalists for the title of Best Foreign Company in the UK National Dance Awards, which will be awarded in January at the Royal Opera House.

Madam Zhao Ruheng, the present Artistic Director of the National Ballet since 1994 and a former dancer of the company, is of course delighted. Speaking to me in Hong Kong towards the end of the company's season in late November, she said, "This nomination has boosted the company's confidence in my policies on new creations and the promotion of talent."

For this latest tour to Hong Kong where it is a regular visitor, instead of another Chinese-themed ballet, the National Ballet of China presented two different programmes drawn from its large repertory of Western ballets. The opening programme was the full-length 19th century ballet "Sylvia". The Paris Opera Ballet used to have a version close enough to the original 1876 staging by Louis Merante, until it was replaced in 1997 by John Neumeier's version. And it is this old authentic version which the National Ballet of China acquired back in 1980 - with choreography by Lycette Darsonval in 1979 after the original version of Louis Merante.

This version was restaged for the National Ballet by several ballet masters from Paris and premiered at the end of September in Beijing. The lead roles were danced at the premiere by two guests from the Paris Opera Ballet as part of the celebrations of the current Year of "France In China". Zhao explained, "I think that this ballet is particularly appropriate this year which renews the cultural exchanges between France and China. The growth of Chinese ballet has always benefited from a constant exchange with artists from different countries and schools. Our company's artistic policy is to revive one old production every year. Undoubtedly "Sylvia" can enable our dancers to keep up their classical training."

 

Zhao Ruheng
© Photo courtesy of the National Ballet of China

The second programme was also timely, being an evening of three works by George Balanchine, arguably the greatest choreographer of the 20th century. This year ballet companies worldwide have been celebrating the centenary of Balanchine's birth, and the National Ballet's Balanchine programme at last put Hong Kong on the map since the Hong Kong Ballet no longer performs Balanchine's works.

The centenary of Balanchine's birth was on 22 January 2004 and that weekend the National Ballet held several Galas in Beijing to celebrate the event. Some of the best dancers in the world from the Royal Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, New York City Ballet, and the Kirov Ballet took part and danced along side the National Ballet's own dancers. Zhao told me proudly, "We celebrated Balanchine's centennial in Beijing earlier than some other companies in the world."

Zhao has just seen her contract renewed. "Each term of office appointed by the Ministry of Culture is normally four years. I've already reached retirement age in fact, and I haven't been told exactly how many years to serve in my new term. This new contract extension has made me more aware of a heavier responsibility. Besides hoping to build up the National Ballet to be one of the finest companies in the world, I also need to plan my succession and bring up younger people to take over the leadership of the company. If my successors, for instance the deputy director Feng Ying, can take up the responsibilities, then I can retire early. But I can assure you that I will continue my task in the development of Chinese ballet until my retirement."

So is the development of Chinese choreography still as important to her as the staging of Western masterpieces for the company? "I do place a high priority on nurturing Chinese choreographers and developing their work. In my opinion, a successful choroegrapher needs to have a thorough understanding of Chinese culture, as well as an awareness of contemporary trends in ballet, besides being well versed in the classical ballet vocabulary. The success of "Raise the Red Lantern" has boosted our confidence in creating new works."

 

Raise the Red Lantern
© PJohn Ross

Financial Times dance critic Clement Crisp has written several times that the future of classical ballet may lie in China in this century. Is Zhao herself as confident? "Of course I am grateful to Clement for having such high expectations from us. Personally I am feeling very confident myself, because besides learning from the tradition and the contemporary development in Western ballet, we can also make use of our own Chinese culture in dance. If one day we can successfully blend all these elements into a new dance form, then my dream will finally be realised. However there will undoubtedly be a lot of hardship ahead on the path towards this goal."

Zhao added, "These three elements - classical ballet, contemporary ballet, and Chinese culture - can give rise to new exciting combinations, for instance in story ballet. That will indeed be a great future, but it will take a considerable amount of time. Clement's encouraging comment has boosted my confidence."

So what concrete steps has Zhao taken so far to try to fulfil this ambition? "Firstly, we have a good foundation in our Beijing Dance Academy. Secondly I've asked our own choreographers to experiment, but unfortunately we are still stuck at the trial-and-error stage, and we haven't yet forged a new identity with the three elements. Thirdly, I have travelled abroad to see for myself new choreography. After hearing good reports of certain Western choreographers, I would travel to see them or invite them to come to China. I wouldn't commision them immediately to create a new work, because I think it's more important for them to gain a basic understanding first of Chinese culture before they can attempt to blend both the Chinese and Western elements."

Zhao of course has her own criteria to choose from the many Western choreographers "I have some reliable sources of advice and information from which to select some of the better ones. Even if they are good, it would be of no use if they don't appreciate Chinese culture at all. So we have to be prepared for failure in our experimentation. I've learnt a lot from the painful experience during the creation of the ballet "Raise the Red Lantern".

"Actually male dancers in Chinese dance in general are more skilled than our male ballet dancers. The style and technique is good for those dancers trained in Chinese martial arts, hecause they can show a better body rhythm. I am also confident about the improvement of our male ballet dancers, but again it will take time." A sensible comment since on the Hong Kong showing it was the company's ballerinas, such as Zhu Yan and Zhang Jian, who impressed more than the male principal dancers.

I identifed some problems such as a tendency of dancers in the company to move to the West later in their careers or even to other companies within China. Zhao sounded very understanding. "I've built up a good relationship with our sister companies in China. The loss of our dancers to the West doesn't really bother me a great deal. After all, a dancer's career is short, and I don't object to my dancers doing what is best for their career. Besides, our artistic development is also dependent on the progress of our nation, for instance whether there will be good career prospects for the dancers. This is a major issue."

Can she reveal some future plans for the company? "At the moment there are many choreographers interested to come to China to stage ballets, whom I can choose from. This new interest from the West in Chinese ballet and Chinese culture is of course heartening. The National Ballet gives about 80 performances throughout China every year. So we can only invite choreographers to come in the summer when we spend a longer period in Beijing. We really have to test for each particular choreographer if he or she is really suitable for the Chinese people. I may commission them to create a short ballet instead of a full-length ballet."

Zhao continued, "Twyla Tharp for instance hopes that we can stage her works, and has sent me videos. But I haven't had time to watch the videos before departing on this tour. I've also invited John Neumeier and Roland Petit to look at our company first, so that they can decide if they will let our company stage their ballets. We really need to build up a relationship first before discussing any cooperation. Actually John Neumeier is busy this year and cannot come at all, but still we frequently correspond by mail. I really hope to find someone who is suitable for the Chinese audience, who loves Chinese culture and can thus establish a new viewpoint. I am working hard on this."

More overseas touring has been planned for the company in the next few years. Zhao told me, "We are negotiating to tour the USA and Japan in 2005, and maybe Europe again in 2006." The company's US tour in 2001 was cancelled abruptly after the September 11 tragedy. But meanwhile Zhao must be looking forward to her trip to London in January to attend the Rural Retreat in Hertfordshire for artistic directors as well as the UK National Dance Awards ceremony. Good luck to the National Ballet of China, which will no doubt continue to thrive in Zhao's new term of office!