Personal tragedy inspires choreographer's creation

Lift the Fallen is a Richmond Ballet production that will be staged during the Meet in Beijing Arts Festival. [Photo provided to China Daily]

It will be the first time that Richmond Ballet has performed in China. Four short works will be featured in the program, called Made in the USA: Traditions and Innovations, including two ballets by American choreographers－Valse Fantaisie by George Balanchine and After Eden by John Butler－and two ballets commissioned and premiered by Richmond Ballet－Swipe by Val Caniparoli and Lift the Fallen by Ma.

"To us, China seemed to be a whole new realm, and we considered the invitation to tour throughout China very thoughtfully," says Winslett, who became the founding artistic director of Richmond Ballet in 1980.

Besides Richmond Ballet, two other contemporary dance troupes will visit China in May during the Meet in Beijing Arts Festival.

They are Skopje Dance Theater, the first professional contemporary dance company in Macedonia founded in 2011 by Macedonian choreographer Risima Risimkin, and Accrorap, a dance company from France founded by choreographer Kader Attou in 1989, who will perform The Roots, a dance work with its roots in hip-hop.

If you go

Beijing

Richmond Ballet

7:30 pm, Friday and Saturday. National Center for the Performing Arts, 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng district. 010-6655-0000.

Accrorap

7:30 pm, Saturday. PLA Theater, 60 Deshengmen Nei Dajie (Street), Xicheng district. 400-610-3721.

Skopje Dance Theater

7:30 pm, May 25-26. Rose Bud, 798 Art Zone, 4 Jiuxian-qiao Lu (Road), Chaoyang district. 400-610-3721.