Children's ballet is a deer sight

This April, the National Ballet of China premiered its first performance aimed at children, titled The Nine-Colored Deer.

On June 20 and 21, the ballet production was staged at the Art and Education Center for the Performing Arts of Tsinghua University by 85 amateur dancers - students from Beijing Chaoyang District Jinsong No 4 Primary School - with an average age of 9-years-old.

Adapted from a well-known painting in the murals of Dunhuang, Gansu province, the ballet tells the story of a spiritual nine-colored deer, who saves a Persian merchant from drowning in a river. In exchange, the merchant promises not to tell anyone about the deer. However, he breaks his promise and leads the king's army to hunt down the deer because the king's concubine wants a coat made of the deer's skin. When the merchant falls into the river again, he is drowned.