Zecheng Liang received his ballet training at the Guangzhou Art School, which he attended from 2004 to 2010. He then continued his instruction with Houston Ballet II from June 2010 to June 2012, supplementing his studies at summer intensives (on full scholarship) with Houston Ballet in 2010 and 2011. Throughout his training, Zecheng competed in several competitions, including the 3rd Beijing International Ballet and Choreography Competition, where he won a gold medal in 2015. He was also a 2010 finalist in the Prix de Lausanne and placed 2nd and 3rd (classical) in the 2008 Beijing International and 2009 Tao Li Bei competitions respectively.
Zecheng joined Philadelphia Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet for the 2017/2018 season, and was promoted to soloist for the 2018/2019 season and principal dancer for the 2019/2020 Season. Since joining the company, he has danced principal roles in Angel Corella’s The Sleeping Beauty (Prince Desire), Swan Lake (Siegfried), Giselle (Albrecht), Don Quixote (Basilio); and La Bayadère (Solor); Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo & Juliet (Romeo); George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker® (Cavalier), Theme and Variations, Jewels, Apollo, and Stravinsky Violin Concerto; Episode 31; For Four; Jerome Robbins’ The Cage and Glass Pieces; Petite Mort; and DGV. He’s also performed in many world premieres: Helen Pickett’s TILT, Russell Ducker’s This Divide, Matthew Neenan’s Deco, Jorma Elo’s Trigger Touch Fade, Juliano Nunes’ Connection, and Garrett Smith’s Reverberance.
Prior to joining the company, Zecheng danced with Houston Ballet, which he joined in 2012 as a member of the corps de ballet and danced in productions that included Ben Stevenson’s The Sleeping Beauty (Bluebird); William Forsythe’s In the middle, somewhat elevated; Jirí Kylián’s Wings of Wax; Wayne McGregor’s Dyad 1929; Stanton Welch’s Divergence and Clear; and the role of Gopak in Ben Stevenson’s The Nutcracker.