The National Ballet of China (NBC) will perform "Onegin", based on a novel by Russian author Alexander Pushkin, at Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center in mid-December, giving ballet lovers the opportunity to enjoy a large stage performance showing Russian life in the 1820s.

It has been over 10 years since "Onegin" was first adapted for the Chinese stage in 2008. It soon became a phenomenal success across the country thanks to its unique style and dramatic performances. The lead actor Zhang Jian, who starred in the first round of the show in 2008, will be on stage again, along with a young generation of ballet dancers including Ma Xiaodong, Qiu Yunting, Xu Yan and others.

The novel "Eugene Onegin" was written by Pushkin as a reflection of Russian social life in the 1820s. The story depicts the awakening of the young generation of that era, and raises many important social issues.

Adapted from the novel, the performance tells a story of the arrogant and cynical aristocratic youth Onegin who doesn't know about true love and coldly rejects the courtship of the innocent country girl Dagiana. When the two meet again many years later, Dagiana has become a duchess and rejects Onegin's love for her.

The performance uses well-known choreography created by John Cyril Cranko, a South African ballet dancer and choreographer who first produced a ballet adaptation of the novel in 1965, set to music by Tchaikovsky. It was one of Cranko's most famous works.

Cranko picked the scenes with the most essence of the original novel, where the innocence and purity of Dagiana and Onegin's frivolous hypocrisy and cynicism are portrayed and contrasted with each other. At the same time, it portrays all walks of life in Russian society at that time.

As COVID-19 has affected international flights, the Chinese dancers and actors completed the choreography in collaboration with foreign ballet experts through online video connections.

The performance will last for four days from December 16-19, 2021.