The ballet, based on director Zhang Yimou's award-winning film of the same name, is about the forbidden romance of concubines and the ensuing sacrifice.

The story is about a young girl who is forced into marriage. She is to be the third wife of the master of a big house. Before getting on the bridal chair, she thinks about her lover -- a Peking Opera actor.

At the wedding, the first and second wives receive her with complicated emotional undertones and she quickly learns the true nature of her new life.

If a red lantern is raised at night outside her room, it signifies that, of the three wives, she will be honored that night by a visit from the master.

On her wedding night, the young bride is overpowered and submits to her husband after desperate resistance.

One day, the master, a Peking Opera fan, has an opera troupe to perform in his house and asks all his family members to learn songs from the opera. The third wife finds her old lover in the troupe.

It is a scene mixed with ballet, Chinese acrobatics and percussion. In what is technically and physically challenging, the dancers perform Peking Opera gestures and movements at the same time as performing ballet steps.

It is followed by a mah-jong session, said to be Zhang Yimou's idea, with the slim dancers carrying out stylized choreography to the rhythmic beats created on the tables.

While the master plays mah-jong with his two other wives, the third wife flees to meet her lover only to be discovered by the jealous second wife who wishes to gain favor by telling the master.

The master catches the lovers red-handed. The third wife is punished to death by the master along with her lover. And the second wife is also put to death by the outraged master.

Present in each of the scenes is Zhang's distinctive, bold, dramatic style, with high contrasts and sensuous pleasures, yet neatly and structurally organized to convey the full strangling effect of feudal society.

Qipao, or cheongsam, a kind of close fitting women's dress with a high neck and slit skirt, were for the first time worn on the ballet stage, and their striking styles and colors delighted the audience.

The premiere in Beijing in May received controversial reviews.

Some said they felt overwhelmed by the visual stimulation that Zhang presented in the performance and that the combination of different art forms was too much of a jolt.

Some criticized the choreography as being weak, whilst others praised the music and said it was a great concert.

Some critics said the relatively easy choreography failed to bring the dancers' high techniques into full play and that some dancers did not have the opportunity to show off their potential. Hou Honglan, who stars as the first wife, admitted that some dances were not so fluent but believes that "this is not the only factor by which to measure ballet. As long as the audience like it, we're satisfied."

Zhu Yan, who plays the third wife, said: "It is true that classic ballet always demands technique and strength. But today's dances pursue various features."

Of course, the artists involved do not consider this to be the final version.

Zhang Yimou said after the debut, "I was quite happy with it, but that does not mean it is good."

Choreographer Wang Xinpeng had said before its premiere that he was pressed for time and if possible, he wanted to put the first version of choreography away for three or four months, then revise it.

Chen Qigang, who won acclaim for his successful music, has expressed his wish to join the creation group again when their ballet begins to improve.

Fans of the show that have been eagerly waiting to see what improvements have been made, may be disappointed.

Zhao Ruheng has said, the show will be the original version with only a few details changed.

After its debut in May, the big names involved in the ballet including director Zhang Yimou, composer Chen Qigang, choreographer Wang Xinpeng, costume designer Jerome Kaplan, and set designer Zeng Li have not been able to get together to discuss the improvements, because of their busy schedules.

Some small revisions in choreography has been made by Wang Caijun, who plays the master in the ballet. The veteran dancer revealed two revised scenes.

One is in the wedding scene, the two jealous wives greet the bride; and another is where the family is learning Peking Opera. The dances for the female roles have also been improved.

"We hope that more common theatre goers will see the original version before we make drastic revisions next year," Zhao said.

In her eyes, the seven premiere performances in Beijing plus several performances in Shanghai and Taiwan, were not enough compared to the amount of people that wanted to see the show.

"We have heard countless praise and condemnations, but most of them were from inside the industry and only a few comments were made from ordinary theatre goers," said Zhao Ruheng.

According to Zhao, the audience's response is more important, as whole idea of the show is to attract more people to see Chinese ballet.

Zhao said that the troupe will make drastic improvements after performing at the Hong Kong Arts Festival early next year.

"The ballet has attracted world-wide attention. When we performed in Taiwan, renowned choreographer, Lin Hwai-min praised it as very novel and he even gave very detailed comments. Many celebrated theaters such as Opera de Paris and Metropolitan also plan to invite us. All of these stimulate us to improve it quickly," she said.

Zhao also points out that the show should not be judged by rules and conventions used to judge classical ballet.

She hopes the critics will be more tolerant: "We are trying to produce Chinese ballet. It is an experiment, a challenge and even a risk. Please forgive us for making mistakes."

It is not yet the time to argue what a Chinese ballet should be like, for "we have too few repertoires to establish a style," she said.

(China Daily December 12, 2001)