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Has anyone seen the National Ballet of China?


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I have the opportunity to go to China in September and, obviously, top of my list is to see the NBC. Has anyone seen them and if so are there dancers or anything you would recommend or avoid?
thank you

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A technically accomplished company with some unusual repertoire alongside the familiar classics like Swan Lake, Giselle  etc. Stunning productions with great sets and costumes (at least the ones they've toured or filmed for broadcast or social media).  Some of their academy graduates and company alumni have gone on to dance as guests or full time company members with many companies abroad. Would recommend catching a full length production  that is either a Chinese literarure or folk tale adaptation or a familar classic as it will have brilliant sets and costumes, as well as a beautifully played score. Their corps de ballet is also excellent. Well worth catching! 

Edited by Emeralds
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1 minute ago, Emeralds said:

A technically accomplished company with some unusual repertoire alongside the familiar classics like Swan Lake, Giselle  etc. Stunning productions with great sets and costumes (at least the ones they've toured or filmed for broadcast or social media).  Some of their academy graduates and company alumni have gone on to dance as guests or full time company members with many companies abroad. Well worth catching! 

Thank you, the little I have seen of them has seemed good, glad to have that confirmed.

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1 minute ago, Jan McNulty said:

I've got a feeling that I saw them in London in 1986 or 87, tying in with the Queen's very successful visit to China.

 

I thought they were very impressive but it was a long time ago!

 

I've just had a look at the website.  They don't seem to list many performances too far in advance!

 

https://www.nbc.cn/englishwap/show.html

I couldn’t find anything beyond Jan either, so I hope they a doing a performance when I visit.

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  • Ian Macmillan changed the title to Has anyone seen the National Ballet of China?

They've been to Sadler's Wells a number of times, but not recently, I think.  I know they brought Raise the Red Lantern, but I can't remember what else, off-hand.

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6 hours ago, alison said:

They've been to Sadler's Wells a number of times, but not recently, I think.  I know they brought Raise the Red Lantern, but I can't remember what else, off-hand.


I thought Raise the Red Lantern looked interesting.

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2 hours ago, Janite said:


I thought Raise the Red Lantern looked interesting.

 

It's a terrific piece, and would recommend it without reservation. They performed it back in 2008 at the ROH and I remember being blown away!

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Yes, Raise the Red Lantern is an absolute must-see. It is spectacular.

 

I have seen the company on various occasions while they were touring. They are brilliant.

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54 minutes ago, Paco said:

Yes, Raise the Red Lantern is an absolute must-see. It is spectacular.

 

I have seen the company on various occasions while they were touring. They are brilliant.


thank you, a recommendation is always good.

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I saw "The Peony Pavilion" they performed in December 2016 in  Sadler's Wells and liked it enormously though it was not a pure ballet, more a combination of the opera, folklore and ballet. I remember beautiful girls of the same height and complexion from the corps - amazing  uniformity! And the principal dancers were great!

  Here's the article of Graham Watts about the performance: https://bachtrack.com/es_ES/review-peony-pavilion-national-ballet-china-sadlers-wells-november-2016

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18 hours ago, Estreiiita said:

I saw "The Peony Pavilion" they performed in December 2016 in  Sadler's Wells and liked it enormously though it was not a pure ballet, more a combination of the opera, folklore and ballet. I remember beautiful girls of the same height and complexion from the corps - amazing  uniformity! And the principal dancers were great!

  Here's the article of Graham Watts about the performance: https://bachtrack.com/es_ES/review-peony-pavilion-national-ballet-china-sadlers-wells-november-2016

Thank you for that interesting review. I hope I get to see it.

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