On the evening of December 18, with the support of the ICEE Ballet Aesthetic Education Program, more than 40 teachers and students from Tsinghua University watched the premiere of Onegin by the National Ballet of China at The Tianqiao Theater in Beijing. As a world classic of classical romantic ballet, Onegin is eagerly awaited by the majority of the devotees of ballet.

Tsinghua students take a group photo during the performance

Before the performance, "ICEE Ballet Aesthetic Education Program" specially arranged a close dialogue with ZHANG Jian, the principal actor of the National Ballet of China, and XU Gang, the ballet master. The two artists specifically explained the wonderful and moving aspects of Onegin for the students.

Tsinghua students talk with a ballet master

The heartfelt and emotional performances by the dancers from the National Ballet of China bring Pushkin's classic characters to life in a world class performance. After attending the performance, the students sent their own feelings as following. "Thanks for this opportunity, under the guidance of the master, let everyone has the ability to discover the beauty, to appreciate the beauty, to understand the beauty, and to have a quality improvement and change." Said by a doctoral student QIAO Minchen (School of Integrated Circuits). An undergraduate student TANG Jingwei (School of Materials Science and Engineering) also expressed that "I am very grateful to have the opportunity to watch Onegin, which allows me to have such close contact with the beauty of art, dance drama, music and emotion." An undergraduate student ZOU Tianyuan (Department of Computer Science and Technology) shared that "I was so excited to watch my first ballet performance in the theater! I love the sound of pointe shoes hitting the ground as the dancers jump and fall. It's so real even with temperature." An undergraduate student ZHANG Yuying (Academy of Arts & Design) wrote that "My body was in the seat, but my heart danced with the dancers, and the powerful artistic appeal of ballet made me unforgettable forever."

Tsinghua students take a group photo with the main actors of Onegin

This art appreciation activity is a part of "ICEE Ballet Aesthetic Education Program", which is co-sponsored by ICEE, Institute for Global Industry of Tsinghua University and Beijing Huanyu Ballet Art Center. The first group of students were these who registered for the Ballet Art elective course at Tsinghua University. "ICEE Ballet Aesthetic Education Program" was launched by ICEE on September 15, 2021, aiming to "giving wings to engineering education through aesthetic education". The program includes supporting "an optional ballet course", "a ballet appreciation event", "a ballet-themed activity", and "a ballet aesthetic education club".

(Edited by LI Chao, WANG Yujia Reviewed by XU Lihui, WANG Sunyu)