A celebration of its history

In November, Shanghai Ballet will launch a new production titled La Traviata at the Shanghai International Arts Festival. La Traviata is the company's latest adaptation of literary classics from home and abroad. Its previous adaptations include the Charlotte Bronte novel Jane Eyre, Shakespearean tragedy Hamlet, and Echoes of Eternity, a long narrative poem by Bai Juyi from the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Hamlet, the ballet, was presented at the Shanghai International Dance Center from Jan 30 to Feb 3 ahead of Spring Festival, and Jane Eyre will be shown in the same hall in June.

Veteran dancer Fan Xiaofeng will play key characters in both plays - as Gertrude, the mother of Hamlet, and Bertha, the mad wife of Rochester in Jane Eyre.

As both characters need to display outstanding emotional expressions and dance techniques, Fan says she is now competent enough to take on such challenging roles because her experience has prepared her well.