The Munich-based Bavarian State Ballet is performing at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing till Saturday. [China Daily]

Ivan Liska, the 59-year-old artistic director of the Bavarian State Ballet, says one of his dreams has always been to tour China and the other is to return to the stage as a dancer. This week, he is fulfilling both of his dreams.

The Munich-based troupe is performing at the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) till Saturday, and Liska himself will dance on stage in a contemporary pas de deux T'he Old Man and Me' Saturday evening.

"I knew Liska in the early 1990s when I watched the DVDs of his ballet 'The Lady of the Camellias' based on the story of La Traviata," says Zhao Ruheng, artistic director of National Ballet of China, who introduced Liska and his company to the NCPA.

"Then we met occasionally at international competitions when we both served as jury members. As a dancer, I appreciate his performances on stage and as a director of a ballet company, we share many ideas on how to manage and develop a ballet troupe."

Zhao laments the narrow-minded range of ballets usually offered in the capital - "dozens of companies touring here to perform Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty" -and says the NCPA has a responsibility to set an example.

"German companies are pioneers in contemporary ballet. They have different approaches from the Russian and British traditions. With a rich music tradition and an avant-garde style in exploring body language, their performances are a feast for both your eyes and ears," she says.

Bavarian State Ballet is performing the classic Raymonda until Friday and a four-piece gala on Saturday.

Raymonda was the last work of the great choreographer Marius Petipa and Alexander Glasounov's brilliant score even has some comparing it with the best Tchaikovsky ballets.

Saturday's program includes three cutting-edge contemporary pieces: "Adagio Hammerklavier," "The Old Man and Me" and Solo choreographed by Hans van Manen from Netherlands Dans Theater, plus Enemy in the Figure by another renowned choreographer William Forsythe.

(China Daily June 25, 2009)