Shanghai Ballet
The Butterfly Lovers
Friday, Oct 16, 2026 at 8pm
Performance Sponsor
The Shanghai Ballet would like to thank the China National Arts Fund.
This performance will include a 15-minute intermission.
Shanghai Ballet
The Butterfly Lovers - Ballet in Four Acts
Choreography: Xin Lili
Music: Xu Jianqiang
Libretto: Luo Huaizhen
Set Designer: Zhou Benyi
Costume Designer: Li Ray Dung
Lighting Designer: Lu Caigen
World Premiere: December 1, 2001, Shanghai Grand Theatre
PROGRAM
Act I: In School
Pause
Act II: Farewell
INTERMISSION
Act III: Against Marriage
Pause
Act IV: Transforming into Butterflies
Overture: The Butterfly Lovers
The music of heaven, the secluded paradise, so quiet, so holy & pure.
South of heaven, north of Earth, a pair of young people face one another from a great distance. The man is LIANG Shanbo & the lady is ZHU Yingtai.
Life is reviving. Love is awakening. Butterflies are beautiful. The world is splendid.
Among the butterflies, with elegant costumes and fans in hand, classmates LIANG Shanbo & ZHU Yingtai gracefully approach each other.
Episode: Hundreds of flowers are blossoming,
A pair of butterflies are flying.
Butterflies are in the world of mortals.
It’s LIANG Shanbo & ZHU Yingtai.
ACT I: In School
It is spring season with flowers blossoming, birds singing and mountain water running. LIANG & ZHU are studying eagerly in class. Disguised as a male in order to attend school, ZHU plays cheerfully with her classmates after class. MA Wencai is a bully and he disregards the teacher and cheats his classmates. ZHU Yingtai tries to stop him but gets threatened. LIANG helps ZHU, but is beaten by MA. At last, MA is driven out of the school.
In the evening, ZHU kneads LIANG’s wounds with all sorts of feelings. She falls in love with LIANG, but LIANG isn’t aware of ZHU’s heart.
At dawn, a letter comes from ZHU’s family, asking her back home.
ACT II: Farewell
It is a beautiful midsummer morning with frogs croaking & cicadas chirping.
LIANG escorts ZHU back home with deep friendship but ZHU is laden with anxiety on the way. Butterflies are flying in pairs. Mandarin ducks are playing in the water. Magpies are singing. It is a love scene in ZHU’s eyes, but LIANG pays no heed. Passing by a wedding party, ZHU disguises herself as a bride, but LIANG takes it as a game. LIANG is pleasantly surprised to realize that ZHU is a girl when she gifts him a fan with butterfly decoration during their separation.
ACT III: Against Marriage
Grief and loneliness penetrate through autumn leaves. ZHU Yingtai is arranged to marry MA Wencai, the former classmate and bully. The wedding ceremony is of a rich family and is magnificent with guests in splendid costumes. MA exudes extreme satisfaction, but ZHU Yingtai is upset and against the marriage.
LIANG Shanbo arrives to propose marriage to ZHU Yingtai, but ZHU’s father looks down upon him. MA’s family takes advantage of its wealth to bully LIANG. ZHU opposes the coercion of her father by the MA family. ZHU expresses her deep love for LIANG. Under the beating of MA’s servants, LIANG falls to the ground.
ACT IV: Transforming into Butterflies
In calm wind and fairly quiet white snow, LIANG’s gravestone stands alone. On her wedding day, ZHU comes to LIANG’s grave and mourns, disregarding all oppositions. LIANG died for ZHU. ZHU died for love.
Suddenly and as if heaven is abiding by their wishes, they transform into two beautiful butterflies – LIANG and ZHU are reunited.
Episode: Brother LIANG, I miss you.
Sister ZHU, I miss you too.
We could not marry in life,
We live together in another world.
Spring returns to the good Earth. It is a beautiful & colorful world.
LIANG Shanbo: XU Jingkun, TU Hanbin (alternates)
ZHU Yingtai: QI Bingxue, FENG Zichun (alternates)
MA Wencai: ZHANG Wenjun, MIAO Siyun (alternates)
Father of ZHU Yingtai: LI Yang
Father of MA Wencai: BAO Deli
Old Teacher: XUE Li
Magpies: ZHAO Meici, ZHU Qian, YAN Qingchen, ZHANG Junzhong
Mandarin Ducks: GUO Wenjin, WANG Jiali, MIAO Siyun, ZHAN Weiyuan
Group Dance:
GUO Wenjin, ZHOU Jiawen, ZHAO Meici, WANG Jiali, ZHU Qian, YAN Wentong, CHEN Ruoxuan, XU Jingyi, LI Xinyi, MIAO Siwen, YANG Zheyan, YANG Xinyi, DENG Di, LI Chenjin, KONG Rui, WANG Xinyi, LI Yichun, LU Xinyi, ZHAO Ziting, YAN Qingchen, YANG Tianzhen, ZHAN Weiyuan, QI Yamin, XUE Li, YANG Chiyuan, YU Xinmo, ZHANG Junzhong, AN Linbo, HE Yifan, ZHANG Yiran, XU Mingjie, ZHU Bojun, WEI Qinghui, ZHANG Tengyuan
The Shanghai Ballet was officially established in 1979, evolving from the performance troupe of The White-Haired Girl, which was honored as one of China’s “Best Classical Dance Works of the 1970s.”
In 2002, the company toured the United States and Canada with The White-Haired Girl. In 2007, its production The Butterfly Lovers was performed in several West Coast cities in the U.S.
In August 2013, the company made its UK debut at the London Coliseum with Jane Eyre. Following the London performances, Shanghai Ballet toured North America once again with productions of La Sylphide and The Butterfly Lovers.
Between December 2015 and January 2016, the company presented The Greatest Swan Lake in the World, directed by Derek Deane, at the Royal Carré Theatre in Amsterdam, as well as in Rotterdam and six other cities across the Netherlands. In August 2016, Shanghai Ballet returned to the London Coliseum with Echoes of Eternity, directed by Patrick de Bana.
In the fall of 2017 and winter of 2018–19, the company embarked on an extensive tour of the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Austria, mounting 72 performances of The Greatest Swan Lake in the World. In January 2020, Shanghai Ballet made its New York debut at Lincoln Center, performing Swan Lake with the New York City Ballet Orchestra, followed by a tour featuring The Butterfly Lovers. In fall 2023, the company returned to the Netherlands with 37 performances of The Greatest Swan Lake in the World. Most recently, in December 2024, Shanghai Ballet’s new production of The Lady of the Camellia was performed to great acclaim in Brisbane, Australia.
Andrea Beck, writing for The Diplomat, described the Shanghai Ballet’s appearances in London as a cultural diplomacy effort, highlighting China’s artistic influence in the UK.
The company is currently led by Executive Director Ji Pingping, a former ballerina with the company, and Artistic Director Xin Lili, a celebrated ballerina in China.
Executive Director: JI Pingping
Artistic Director: XIN Lili
Administration Management: WANG Mingyu
Project Manager: YE Lihong
Project Executive: ZHOU Yiwei
Project Oversight: XU Yiqing
Dancers’ Management: ZHANG Yao
Chief of Tech: HUANG Jiajie
Stage Manager: ZHOU Haibo
Set: LU Jinhua
Costume: SONG Liang
Lighting: ZHU Xiachen
Props: CAO Haitao
Make-up: YANG Yijie
Sound: DAI Haichun
Therapist: CHEN Li
The Shanghai Ballet would like to thank the China National Arts Fund.
Exclusive Management for Shanghai Ballet:
OPUS 3 ARTISTS: 250 W 34th St, Worklife Office Suite 313, New York, NY 10119 | www.opus3artists.com
For Opus 3 Artists:
Robert Berretta: Managing Director
Ben Maimin: Chief Operating Officer
Jemma Lehner: Manager, Artists & Attractions
Leslie Beatrice: Director, Marketing & Creative
Miles Bentley: Associate
Shayna Valianos: Associate
For 2026 US Tour:
Peter Katz: Manager; Touring Logistics
Alexander Brady: Company Manager
Maddie Kunert: Stage Manager
Sarah Woods: Lighting Director