The National Ballet of China has brought its acclaimed "Raise the Red Lantern" ballet to Indonesia's capital, and it's lighting the way for cultural exchange. Jakarta's ballet scene is still relatively small, but performances by foreign troupes are helping to introduce the classic art form to people in the city. 

Chinese culture meets classic ballet in this famous performance filled with traditional music and elegant moves. The National Ballet of China brought its magical "Raise the Red Lantern" show to Jakarta to promote cultural exchange.

In conjunction with 67 years of diplomatic ties between China and Indonesia, more than one hundred musicians, opera singers and dancers graced the stage for the second time in Indonesia.


The National Ballet of China has brought its acclaimed "Raise the Red Lantern" ballet to Indonesia's capital, and it's lighting the way for cultural exchange.

"20 years ago, the national ballet of China already paid a visit to Indonesia. Right now they come back, so it is actually an echo of history and rejuvenation of these kinds of cultural exchanges," said Xu Hangtian, political counsellor of Chinese Embassy in Indonesia.

Based on the internationally acclaimed film of the same name, the performance has garnered several awards and nominations in the past decade.It was formed in 2001 by a creative team of film directors, composers and choreographers.

The dance blends shadow play, Beijing opera and cultural Chinese elements with the opulence of western ballet. Since it was created, Raise the Red Lantern has been presented all over the world in more than 400 performances.

Although Indonesia has a lot of ballet schools, the scene itself is not as pronounced compared to China. The country is still hoping to include more professional training and introduce new techniques that can set the dancers apart from other countries. And by inviting ballet masters from abroad, the dance students here are able to take their talents to the next level.

Juliana Tanjo founded the Indonesia Dance Society in an effort to shine a light on performance arts in the country.

"For several men, they fear it's too feminine for them to enjoy so our goal is to educate them and to spread awareness to the general public that ballet can be enjoyed by any gender by all ages, young and old," Juliana Tanjo said.

Juliana believes this remarkable piece can promote the growth of ballet in Indonesia, in hopes of inspiring local choreographers to include cultural elements in contemporary dances.

"Indonesia is very fortunate to have a wide variety of traditional dance and over the years I have seen choreographers combining the elements of traditional Indonesian dance to contemporary as well as ballet. If we work towards that I believe with the support of great dancers as well. We have good concept and ideas. We Indonesians can have a distinctive Indonesian ballet," Juliana said.

Raise the Red Lantern could serve as an inspiration to further pave the way for ballet in Indonesia to be developed and presented in the international stage.