At 9:00 am Tokyo time on May 9th, 2019, more than 80 artists from the National Ballet of China, led by Director Feng Ying and Party Secretary Wang Quanxing, came to visit the Matsuyama Ballet in the early morning and were warmly welcomed by the artists of the Company.

"We've been waiting for decades!" said Mr. Tetsutaro Shimizu and Ms. Yoko Morishita said with affection, when they met the artists from National Ballet of China.

Led by Ms. Yoko Morishita, the artists of the Matsuyama Ballet performed a ballet choreographed in the Chinese national music "Yellow River", which surprised and touched the Chinese friends.

The scene of the various activities were filled with warm atmosphere and excited tears. 

A cake filled with the affectionate blessings from all the artists of the Matsuyama Ballet with the words of "Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China and the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of National Ballet of China".

As the National Ballet of China visited Japan with such a large scale for the first time, Raise the Red Lantern and Swan Lake will be performed in Tokyo Festival Hall on the evening of May 10th and May 12th respectively. Hope the friendship between Chinese and Japanese people and artists could last forever through our joint efforts.

 Text by Eva and Shi Wei

Photo by Shi Ren