American Ballet Theatre to Tour China with Swan Lake in November 2026
- Bringing Swan Lake to China this November is a milestone for this Company on two fronts: our very first performances in Guangzhou, and a return to Shanghai on...
American Ballet Theatre will tour China this November, performing its full production of Swan Lake in Guangzhou and Shanghai. The tour marks the company’s debut in Guangzhou and its return to Shanghai to close out the 25th China Shanghai International Arts Festival at a newly opened venue.
Guangzhou and Shanghai Tour Dates
American Ballet Theatre will perform Swan Lake across two Chinese cities during November. The company makes its first-ever appearance in Guangzhou from November 5 to November 7 at the Guangzhou Opera House, where local audiences will see the full production for the first time. Tickets for the Guangzhou performances are currently on sale through the venue’s official website.
Following the Guangzhou engagement, the company travels to Shanghai for performances from November 12 to November 15. The Shanghai run will be held at the newly opened Shanghai Grand Opera House, marking the closing engagement of the 25th China Shanghai International Arts Festival. Tickets are available online via the Shanghai Grand Opera House WeChat Mini Program, with prices ranging from RMB 180 to RMB 1,280, alongside additional ticket access on the China Shanghai International Arts Festival website.
Shanghai Grand Opera House Venue Details
The Shanghai performances will inaugurate the performance spaces of the newly constructed Shanghai Grand Opera House, designed by architecture firm Snøhetta. Located along the eastern bank of the Huangpu River in the city’s Expo Houtan neighborhood, the opera house is set to open on October 17, 2026.
The building’s architectural design draws inspiration from an unfolding Chinese fan and features a spiraling double-helix staircase. Within the complex, visitors will find three distinct performance venues providing an aggregate of 4,200 seats: Harmony Hall with 2,000 seats, Soar Theatre holding 1,200 seats, and the Open Stage accommodating 1,000 seats. Global arts organizations have shown widespread interest in the venue’s inaugural festival season, which concludes with American Ballet Theatre’s residency.
Artists and Dancers with Deep Ties to China
The touring company features Kevin McKenzie’s full production of Swan Lake and includes three dancers with established connections to China. Soloist Zhong-Jing Fang, a native of Shanghai, trained for seven years at the Shanghai Ballet School, won the Prix de Lausanne in 2000, and joined American Ballet Theatre in 2003. Having originally hailed from Zhengzhou, soloist Fangqi Li completed her training at the Secondary School of the Beijing Dance Academy and The National Ballet of China prior to her 2018 recruitment by American Ballet Theatre.
Being of Chinese-American descent, Principal Dancer Chloe Misseldine danced the traditional Mo Li Hua Chinese fan dance during the 2016 CCTV Spring Festival Gala, an event transmitted to an audience exceeding 700 million people. Her journey with American Ballet Theatre began in 2019 ahead of her 2024 promotion to principal, and she is scheduled to portray the central characters of Odette and Odile during the Saturday, November 7 matinee in Guangzhou alongside the Thursday, November 12 evening show in Shanghai. Yan Chen, who formerly danced with American Ballet Theatre and is Misseldine’s mother, currently contributes as a rehearsal director for ABT Studio Company while also teaching as a principal faculty member at the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School.
Bringing Swan Lake to China this November is a milestone for this Company on two fronts: our very first performances in Guangzhou, and a return to Shanghai on the stage of its extraordinary new opera house,
Susan Jaffe, American Ballet Theatre Artistic Director
Conductors and Orchestral Leadership
Tchaikovsky’s score for the Swan Lake tour will be led by two conductors. Charles Barker, who has served as American Ballet Theatre’s principal conductor since 1987, will share conducting duties with guest conductor Martin West, the music director and principal conductor of San Francisco Ballet since 2005.
Founded in 1940 and headquartered in New York City, American Ballet Theatre was designated America’s National Ballet Company by an act of Congress in 2006. The institution has toured 50 U.S. states, 45 countries, and over 480 cities worldwide, presenting nineteenth-century full-length classics alongside early twentieth-century works and contemporary masterpieces.