Raise the Red Lantern, a major production of visiting National Ballet of China, touched the bottom of hearts of western audience fully occupying a leading London dance house where it was premiered Tuesday night.

The dramatic full-length ballet, which combines the conventions of western ballet with Chinese iconography and elements of the Peking Opera, is widely applauded as a world-class event breaking new ground for western audiences.

Based on international acclaimed film director Zhang Yimou's 1991 award-winning film of the same name, the haunting tale focuses on the life of a beautiful concubine who is sold by her mother to a much elder man in rural China in 1920s.

She enters a stifling world of jealousy and resentment where three women compete for the raised red lanterns which signals they are favored by their male master. Her resolve to survive and challenge female subservience in Chinese feudal culture creates an atmosphere of permanent intrigue.

As suggested by the title, the color red suffuses the production, symbolizing sexual power, anger, passion and darkly the terrible, tragic end to this bitter tale.

The ballet has an international feel. One of its two choreographers, Xinpeng Wang, is based in Germany, its composer, Qigang Chen, is based in France, and Jerome Kaplan, responsible for the opulent costumes, is French.

"This is a very strong Chinese ballet although a majority of dancing elements is in western style," Alistair Spalding, with the Salder's Wells theater, told Xinhua.

"With its fearless blending of eastern and western styles, it is a work which could only be made in China, and although the story is an old one, the freshness of the production reflects something of the rapid development that is taking place in China today," he commented.

"It's a very successful fusion between Chinese ballet and European classic ballet. The quality is there. It's absolutely a world class performance," said Mrs. Gill Brody, an audience of northwestern London.

The six-day performances of the ballet at 1,500-seat Sadler's Wells theater are the only UK dates in their European tour this autumn. The theater said currently the ticket sale goes very well with all the tickets for the first two nights having already been sold out.

The Beijing-based National Ballet of China, founded in 1959, is China's foremost ballet company. The company was last seen in Britain in 1986.

(Xinhua News Agency November 12, 2003)