Richmond Ballet checks in from China: A photo travelogue!

Our state’s beloved dance company is currently wowing China, and they’re keeping in touch via photo.

May 28, 2015; 3:00 PM • by Susan Howson

Richmond Ballet dancers are currently leaping around China on their much-anticipated visit. The following are photos culled from the social media and directly submitted by dancers and other staff. Do you think they’re having a good time? DO YOU THINK THEY MISS US? All text, captions, and photos courtesy of Richmond Ballet.

Richmond Ballet dancers and Company Manager Tracie Morin (center) prepare to board their flight for Beijing!

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Company dancers Tommy Garrett, Phil Skaggs, Maggie Small, Kirk Henning, and Valerie Tellmann pose for a photo while touring the Forbidden City ahead of the company’s opening night performances at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing. The company performed at the NCPA twice, on May 22nd and then again on May 23rd, before hitting the road to travel to Dezhou, and later to Jinan and Shanghai.

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National Ballet of China principal dancer and Richmond Ballet friend, Ma Xiaodong (you may remember him as Basilio in February’s productions of Don Quixote at the Carpenter Theatre) met up with Matthew Frain, Trevor Davis and the rest of the company for a hot pot dinner while out in Beijing. Three words: So. Much. Food.

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Too cute. Sabrina Holland and Fernando Sabino are pretty excited to be posing for this photo in front of the NCPA.

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So fierce right now. A handful of Richmond Ballet dancers and tour staff give that lion (?) statue a run for its money while visiting the Forbidden City.

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Elena Bello and Tommy Garrett watch as Ma Xiaodong demonstrates his technique for preparing food at a fun, hot pot dinner the night before the Company’s opening performance at the NCPA.

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Richmond Ballet company dancers Maggie Small and Fernando Sabino perform John Butler’s After Eden on stage at the “Meet in Beijing” Arts Festival, held at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, China. The work is part of Richmond Ballet’s Made in The USA: Traditions & Innovations international touring program.

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Such tourists. Richmond Ballet dancers “observe” the scenery by boat at the Summer Palace, just outside of Beijing.

Richmond Ballet company dancers Valerie Tellmann (left) and Maggie Small jump for joy while spending the day as tourists at Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts, the venue for the Company’s Beijing tour stop.

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Inside the mammoth NCPA lobby. Nothing in China is small.

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Wow, that dinner must have been really, really good! Richmonders are foodies, no matter where they are! Nom, nom, nom, Chinese-style.

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We made it! Some clearly in “better shape” than others….Richmond Ballet spent the day as tourists on Sunday, visiting the Great Wall of China after closing two successful shows at the NCPA.

May 28, 2015 3:00 PM 0