The Chinese ballet The Red Detachment of Women was performed at the opening ceremony of the 7th Silk Road International Art Festival on Dec 1.

The 7th Silk Road International Art Festival is being held in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, on Dec 1-6.

The Chinese ballet The Red Detachment of Women is performed at the opening ceremony of the 7th Silk Road International Art Festival on Dec 1. [Photo by Shang Hongtao/Xi'an news network]

As a landmark work of Chinese ballet, The Red Detachment of Women combines the techniques of Western ballet with the performance techniques of Chinese folk dancing to create an epic spectacle that has been popular for more than half a century.

Premiering in 1964, The Red Detachment of Women is the first large-scale ballet collectively created by the National Ballet of China. It tells the story of a tenacious army of women fighting to resist oppression and achieve victory.

It is a classic Chinese ballet that reflects Chinese culture in the form of Western ballet and embodies the national spirit and temperament.

On the stage, classic passages created a climax from time to time. The actresses' performances won applause from audiences again and again. And the popular classic melody was the soul of the performance.

"It is a great honor for us to come to the art festival to perform for the audience in Xi'an," said Xu Gang, assistant art director of the National Ballet of China.

"Ballet is a kind of international language, and The Red Detachment of Women is a combination of Chinese and Western cultures.”