Two ballet "classics of classics" - Victor Hugo's "Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "Swan Lake" were performed early this year by the Kremlin Palace Ballet Theater. The two performances were welcomed by Chinese audiences.
More and more Russia ballet companies have come to China to showcase the charms of Russian Art.
Russia is known for its excellent ballet dancers and ballet productions and many Russian ballet masters have toured the world, helping other professional ballet dancers improve their skills and entertain massive crowds. With the help of artists from the former Soviet Union, China founded its first ballet company, and the first Chinese swan was born in 1959.
Ballet was introduced in Russia together with other aristocratic dance forms as part of Peter the Great's Westernization program in the early 1700s. In the beginning, Italian and French dancers and choreographers predominated, but by 1800 Russian ballet was assimilating native elements from folk dancing as nobles sponsored dance companies of serfs. European ballet critics agreed that the Russian dance had a positive influence on West European ballet.
The most influential figure of the early twentieth century was the impresario Sergey Diaghilev, who founded an innovative touring ballet company in 1909 with choreographer Michel Fokine, dancer Vaslav Nijinksy, and designer Alexandre Benois. After Diaghilev, several new companies calling themselves the Ballet Russe toured the world, and new generations of Russian dancers filled their ranks.
After a period of innovation and experimentation, Russia's ballet has become the most influential Russian art in the world.
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