At the beginning of summer this year, we ushered in the 103rd anniversary of the birthday the famous dance artist and educator Dai Ailian, one of the pioneers and founders of Chinese contemporary dance art. As in previous years, the National Ballet of China held grand commemorative activities for dance and art circles at the "Qinglian Dwelling", Dai Ailian’s former residence memorial, to express great respect and deep tribute to the predecessor of the National Ballet of China. The theme of this year's commemorative event was 'inheriting the spirit of ancestors and dancing out patriotism' and the purpose was to review and discuss Dai's great achievements of dance art, especially her conscientiousness and selfless dedication to the development of Chinese cultural and arts, so as to encourage everyone to inherit and carry forward the hardworking and enterprising spirit of the older generation of the National Ballet of China.

Feng Ying, the Director of National Ballet of China, delivered a sincere and vivid speech, which briefly introduced the original intention and social influence of the memorial of Dai’s former residence 'Qinglian Dwelling' and recalled Dai's painstaking efforts to the cultivation of generations of Chinese ballet artists and her touching deeds of doing her best to bring the National Ballet of China to the world.

Text by Zhu Lin

Photo by Zhang Yi