Qu
Zijiao
Jury member of Benois de la Danse
Artistic director and president of Liaoning Ballet, head of Liaoning Ballet Affiliated Ballet Dance School, an Outstanding Expert of Ministry of Culture of China. She is a representative of the 9th and 10th Liaoning People’s Congress; a member of the 12th Liaoning Province Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
Qu Zijiao was a principal ballerina in Liaoning Ballet and danced in many classical ballets such as Swan Lake, Le Corsaire, La Fille Mal Gardée and in many Chinese ballet works such as The Butterfly Lovers, Breath of Scandal and Home, etc. She won the Gold Prize in the International Ballet Competition held in France (1988).
In recent years, under her leadership, Liaoning Ballet has been dedicated to creating the original Chinese ballet works with strong geographic and cultural characteristics including Liaohe River Lullaby, the ballet epic with strong geographic characteristics of Liaoning Province; Eight Heroines, the ballet works reflecting the spirit of Northeast United Army; Mulan, a story of faith and belief, a legend of ethical model of Chinese culture. Liaoning Ballet has successfully created several historical, artistic, popular and original ballet works for the development of ballet art in China. In addition, Qu Zijiao has been busy with introducing international artistic works of high standard to China. The Liaoning Ballet cooperated with Yuri Grigorovich, in the production of ballet works Spartacus, Romeo and Juliet; While performing classical works, they also actively cooperate with international masters to build “new classic”.
It has worked with the Vladimir Malakhov to choreograph a new version Swan Lake; with the famous Portuguese Choreographer Rui Manuel Lopes Graca on modern ballets Butterfly Lovers, Songs without words. It also cooperated with ballet theaters and choreographers from countries like South Africa, America and Germany, making meaningful attempts and explorations for international exchange of China's ballet art.
Over the years, she has been focusing on the cultivation and training of ballet talents. Relying on Liaoning Ballet Affiliated Ballet Dance School, the largest professional ballet training base in China. School graduates got positions in major ballet companies throughout Asia, Europe, America.