Beijing

The best musicians and dancers from Russia will help Chinese audiences celebrate the Spring Festival with some exclusive performances this month.

The Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1989 by conductor Dmitry Orlov, will start off with a New Year Concert in Beijing on the first day of Spring Festival. Besides presenting classical favorites from composers including Mozart, Strauss, Tchaikovsky and Verdi, the concert will also kick off the 12th Spring of Ballet, brought to China by the Russian National Ballet Theater.

Keeping to a long tradition, the troupe will present three classical ballets by Russian composer Tchaikovsky, including Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty. The performances will be accompanied by the Moscow State Symphony Orchestra.

Spring of Ballet was launched by the Beijing XDR Cultural and Communication Company a decade ago, labeling it a season of "real Russian energy and passion".

When the Russian National Ballet toured the United States with Swan Lake in 2009, the Washington Post reviewed it as "a cut above many of its rivals. The Swan Lake was the real thing."

According to Zhao Hong, deputy manager of Beijing XDR, the performances are not without flaws and curious historical details, but the well-trained dancers still best convey a sense of warmth and personal pride.

The Russian National Ballet was founded in Moscow in the late 1980s. The principal dancers of the company came from the top companies in Moscow, Riga, Kiev and even Warsaw, Poland.