She is still a swan, 30 years on

Qu Zijiao played the female lead Odette in the maiden production of Liaoning Ballet in 1980.

A fresh graduate of the Shenyang Conservatory of Music, initially she didn't quite know what to make of the gamut of emotions of a princess by night and swan by day.

She had to give expression to the agony of living under the spell of the evil sorcerer Rothbart who turned her and her maids-in-waiting into a flock of swans. Then there was the ecstasy of meeting her prince charming, Siegfried, who took her to dizzying romantic heights. Finally there was the overwhelming grief of being separated from him by the evil designs of the villain.