Forging bridges on tippy toes

Guan Jianbo, vice-president of the NCPA, said the new company is the institution's fifth professional resident arts ensemble.

The collaboration also builds on earlier joint projects between the two institutions, including two dance works, The Spring in Yangjialing and The Railway Guerrillas. The new company intends to merge education, artistic creation, and professional performance, and give dancers a clearer path from training to the stage, Guan notes.

The company has also brought together an international group of guest artists, including dancer-choreographers Shen Wei and Wang Yuanyuan, and ballet superstars Vladimir Malakhov and Semyon Chudin.

"Above all, this new company offers an artistic home — a place where dancers can grow, choreographers can explore new ideas, and audiences can discover performances that move them," says Malakhov, the former principal dancer at the Moscow Classical Ballet and the Vienna State Opera, and the former artistic director of the Berlin State Ballet.

"By bringing professional performance and education together, it creates valuable opportunities for a new generation of artists and audiences alike.

"Throughout my career as a dancer, teacher and artistic director, I have learned that excellence is built through daily work, discipline, a willingness to keep learning, and respect for every detail," he adds. "Ballet has also given me the privilege of working with artists from different countries. Time and again, I have seen how quickly people can understand one another through movement, music and a shared love of their craft. To me, this is one of the greatest gifts of our profession."

Chudin, the principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet who joined the Beijing Dance Academy as a visiting ballet expert in September, said his experience there had given him a close look at the commitment of both teachers and students.

He described the establishment of the NCPA Ballet as an opportunity to give young dancers more room to grow, create, and exchange ideas with artists from other countries.

"Wherever we come from, our shared passion for ballet unites us," Chudin says, emphasizing the importance of mutual respect and collaboration in keeping the art form alive.

"I hope the new company will preserve classical traditions while exploring new artistic possibilities and developing a distinctive identity," he says.

For Chudin, the new troupe could become more than a platform for performances. Through ballet, he says, artists from China and abroad could build bridges between cultures and bring talented dancers and ballet works to wider audiences.

Wang Ning, president of the NCPA, described the company's establishment as an important step for Chinese ballet and a new example of cooperation between a major cultural institution and a leading arts academy. He said the troupe would focus on building a strong ensemble and producing high-quality works while using the arts to encourage cultural exchange.