New youth competition will showcase domestic as well as foreign talent as art form enjoys growing appeal.

The 6-year-old girl danced in her white tutu, before trying the difficult en pointe. This French dance term describes ballet artists carrying their weight and dancing on their toes. Despite her grace and bravery, she failed in her attempt but she won the hearts of the watching audience who burst out in applause. Their members included Feng Ying, president of the National Ballet of China.

"I see great potential in the little girl. She will become a ballerina one day," says Feng.

She was not the only one to impress Feng. A 14-year-old dancer, wearing Chinese folk costume, combined ballet with a tea-picking routine, a folk dance portraying the workers harvesting the crop.

With the child dancers at Tianqiao Theater in Beijing on March 14, Feng announced that the First Ailian Youth Grand Prix had been launched.

"We want to recognize the talent and efforts of young dancers, who are learning ballet. It has been our longtime wish to hold such a competition," says Feng, who will serve as the director of the committee of the First Ailian Youth Grand Prix and will be the chairperson of the competition jury.

Open to young ballet dancers from around the world, the competition will be held online, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with participants uploading their videos.

The preliminary contest will be held from June 10-15 and the final contest will be held from June 25 to July 10. A ceremony and gala, showcasing award-winning dancers, is scheduled to be held in Beijing from July 30-31.

According to Zou Zhirui, the secretary-general of the First Ailian Youth Grand Prix, a former ballerina and current professor of Beijing Dance Academy, the competition will be divided into categories for both professional and amateur participants, from ages 4 to 18.For the professional group, dancers can upload performances as soloists or in a pas de deux. For amateurs, they can compete as soloists, in a pas de deux or as a dance group.

Besides Feng and Zou, the jury members will also include distinguished judges, including Frank Andersen, veteran choreographer and former principal dancer at the Royal Danish Ballet, Nina Ananiashvili, who is the prima ballerina and the director of the State Ballet of Georgia, and Mikko Nissinen, the artistic director of Boston Ballet and Boston Ballet School.

"Besides displaying their talent, we also hope that young people can work together and inspire one another," adds Feng. "It's a great opportunity for us to see new talent, and they will be offered the chance to work with dancers of the National Ballet of China."

The competition is named after Dai Ailian (1916-2006), widely considered "the mother of Chinese dance".

"We want to pay tribute to her. Dai was devoted to helping and promoting young Chinese dancers. Her choreographic works, such as The Lotus, are still performed by young Chinese dancers today," says Feng, adding that Dai donated her assets to the country after she died, hoping to help more young talented dancers.

Dai, born in Trinidad, learned ballet at the age of 5 and at 14, her mother sent her to London to receive training. After Japan launched its invasion into China in 1937, Dai took part in benefit performances to raise funds for the Hong Kong-based China Defense League, headed by Soong Ching Ling, the wife of Sun Yat-sen, Chinese revolutionary leader. She then decided to move to China. With the help of Soong, Dai arrived in Hong Kong in 1940.

Dai combined ballet she learned from the West with traditional Chinese folk dance. She was named the first principal of the Beijing Dance Academy, when it was set up in 1954. When the National Ballet of China was established in 1959, Dai was appointed as its first president.

Feng, who was a former ballerina with the National Ballet of China, received training from Dai.

"She once said that she hoped everyone could dance one day in China because dancing had always been a big part of her life and she considered dancing the happiest thing in the world," says Feng. "We've been carrying on her legacy to give young dancers the opportunity to be seen."

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