From 26 to 29 October, the Primorsky Stage of the Mariinsky Theatre will be hosting the Liaoning Ballet of China, for whom it will be its first tour to Vladivostok. The Company’s Vladivostok debut will include three showings of their original ballet Eight Heroines (October 26, 27, 28) and a gala-concert (October 29).
The plot of the original performance is based on a poignant real life story about eight young female soldiers from a secret garrison of the Northwest Anti-Japanese Amalgamated Army of China, fighting against the invaders during the tragic events of the Japanese occupation of China in the 1930th. While being on an important military mission, the heroines made a difficult choice to sacrifice their lives for their Motherland. 77 years later, a story about their heroic deed inspired the Liaoning Ballet Company to create a captivating ballet performance, which in 2016 was awarded the Wenhua Prize, a national top-level award in the field of art.
The Liaoning Ballet was founded in 1980 in one of the northern provinces of China and now is regarded as one of the best ballet companies in the country. The Company’s repertoire include both classical ballets (Swan Lake, Giselle, Cinderella, Raymonda) and its own productions based on Chinese themes (Liang and Zhu, The last Emperor, Moonlight over the Erquan Pond). The Company’s artists collaborate on regular basis with coaches from Russia, the USA, France, Italy, Canada and other countries and on numerous occasions have become winners of prestigious awards. Recent achievements of the Liaoning Ballet leading soloists include Silver and Bronze prizes at the 13th International Ballet Competition held in Moscow in 2017.
The Company’s leading soloists, multiple prestigious international award winners Zhang Haidong and Yu Chuanya already performed in Vladivostok during the II International Mariinsky Far East Festival, where their performance of leading parts in Adolphe Adam’s ballet Giselle received a rapturous reception from the audience.
