Classic ballet piece Onegin performed in Beijing

Dancers of the National Ballet of China performed the three-act classic ballet piece Onegin, one of the world's greatest ballets based on Russian poet and playwright Alexander Pushkin's novel Eugene Onegin, in Beijing from Dec 16 to 19. The performance was part of the ongoing fifth China International Ballet Season.

Originally choreographed by John Cranko for Germany's Stuttgart Ballet, Onegin premiered in 1965.

In 2008, Reid Anderson, artistic director of the Stuttgart Ballet, trained dancers of the National Ballet of China in Beijing and the piece was performed at Tianqiao Theater the same year.

During the coronavirus pandemic, this time around, Anderson did online rehearsals with the Chinese dancers.

Ballet dancer Zhang Jian and Ma Xiaodong played leading roles.