Chinese ballet 'The White-Haired Girl' to be staged in Beijing

The Chinese classic ballet "The White-Haired Girl" will be staged at the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) on June 25 and 26, in commemoration of the 70th founding anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

Chinese performers of Shanghai Ballet Corps present White-haired Girl (Bai Mao Nv), one of the ten Model Plays or Model Operas (Yang Ban Xi) in Huaian, Jiangsu province, China, July 29, 2005.[Photo: IC]

The ballet, to be performed by the Shanghai Ballet, tells a story of a girl's pursuit of liberation, true love, and struggle against injustice.

The story is set during the war against Japanese invasion. The girl's father, a poor tenant farmer, is killed by a despotic landlord. She is then forced into servitude by the landlord. To escape the brutal treatment, she flees to the mountains. She is later saved by the Eighth Route Army led by the Communist Party of China.

Since its premiere in Shanghai in 1965, the ballet has been performed nearly 2,000 times in China and other countries. It won the Gold Medal for the Best Classical Dance Work of the 20th Century in China.

(Story includes material sourced from Xinhua)