Hang Up Your Tutus - Here Comes the National Ballet of China's RED DETACHMENT OF WOMEN

Famously performed for President Nixon and Henry Kissinger on their historic visit to the People's Republic of China in 1972, the National Ballet of China's The Red Detachment of Women will make its Australian debut at Arts Centre Melbourne from 15 - 18 February 2017.

One of the world's great ballet companies, National Ballet of China will perform The Red Detachment of Women exclusively for the opening week of Arts Centre Melbourne's Asia TOPA:, Asia Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts

The announcement was made in Beijing by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews together with Arts Centre Melbourne, CEO, Claire Spencer, Madam Chen Chunmei, Chinese Ministry of Culture, and Madam Feng Ying, Director, National Ballet of China.

An initiative of Arts Centre Melbourne and the Sidney Myer Fund, Asia TOPA unites Melbourne's major venues and cultural presenters to simultaneously present Asia-focused performing, visual, screen and literary arts programs, commissioned works and collaborations between Australian artists, and artists from the region.

The Red Detachment of Women is one of the company's most popular works inside China and they were most recently invited to perform it at the Lincoln Centre in New York and the Kennedy Centre in Washington.

Based on the popular true story of the 1930's all-female Special Company of the Chinese Red Army, The Red Detachment of Women's story of liberation and just revenge is performed superbly by a company of 70 dancers and supported by a 60-strong Orchestra Victoria and 30-strong local choir.

Hailed as the first fully Chinese classical ballet created by the fledgling Central Ballet Troupe in 1964 The Red Detachment of Women incorporates elements of Peking Opera, Hainan folk song and popular tunes alongside famously heroic arabesques and high impact, drill-inspired choreography.

"We are excited to be presenting this flagship production as one of our highlight programs for the inaugural Asia TOPA," said Claire Spencer, CEO, Arts Centre Melbourne. "In the years since its debut, The Red Detachment of Women's distinctive, colour-saturated aesthetic has found its way indelibly into western mass culture to be amongst the most recognisable cultural works of the 20th century. This is Arts Centre Melbourne's third presentation of National Ballet of China following The Peony Pavilion in 2012 and Raise the Red Lantern in 2010 and we look forward to welcoming the company back to Melbourne."