Ballet fans in Beijing will soon be able to enjoy a Tchaikovsky Ballet Festival for the first time.

From June 22 to 27, the Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre will present his three classic ballets "Swan Lake", "Sleeping Beauty" and "Nutcracker," plus "Queen of Spades", recently adapted from his opera of the same name.

By then, those interested in Tchaikovsky's ballets will be able to experience the many magic elements revolving around the musical master.

Among all the big names related to Russian ballet, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky must be the one who represents this specific style best.

"Swan Lake," "Sleeping Beauty" and "Nutcracker," all to his credit as a commissioned composer, have been tirelessly staged, re-staged, and re-re-staged by all ballet and modern dance companies throughout the world.

Much of Tchaikovsky's concert music has also been enthusiastically visualized through all kinds of ballets and modern dances. They include "Romeo And Juliet," "The Snow Maiden," "Hamlet," "Serenade For String Orchestra" and three suites for orchestra, three piano concertos and five symphonies.

In this aspect, no other composer can be compared to him. Many critics treated him as a magical phenomenon in the history of ballet.

Because of Tchaikovsky's great contributions to ballet, his music has been regarded almost too highly by many as the so-called soul of this physical art form, and even, in a broad sense, of other dance forms.

The name, music and influence of Tchaikovsky have appeared everywhere.

For local ballet fans, this Tchaikovsky Ballet Festival could be the best opportunity to personally experience the delicate temperament and wisdom of this Russian composer in a single series and to really understand what the title "music master" really means.

A recent study reveals surprising factors about Tchaikovsky's compositions. For example, everything he wrote was strictly in accordance with the detailed requests of librettists and choreographers. Each score was written to accompany the themes of existing dances, their time signatures, speeds, characters, and even the number of bars and their respective lengths.

In other words, what our esteemed Tchaikovsky is renowned for being a master at was actually his work as a servant. To many frequent ballet goers, the first choice among his four ballets is "Queen of Spades," an original Tchaikovsky opera now in pointed shoes!

The author is a researcher from the Dance Research Institute under China National Arts Academy.

(China Daily 06/15/2001)