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Dancers of China's Suzhou Ballet Theater perform Tang Yin at the VEF Culture Palace in Riga, Latvia, on May 2, 2019. The first ever performance of the Suzhou Ballet Theater troupe in Riga took place at the VEF Culture Palace on Thursday. In Riga, the Chinese dance troupe showed a modern and at the same time exquisite choreographic production based on an ancient Chinese theme. The dance show told the story of Tang Yin, a famous artist and poet of the Ming Dynasty who was born and died in Suzhou. (Xinhua/Edijs Palens)

RIGA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The first ever performance of the Suzhou Ballet Theater troupe in Riga took place at the VEF Culture Palace on Thursday.

In Riga, the Chinese dance troupe showed a modern and at the same time exquisite choreographic production based on an ancient Chinese theme. The dance show told the story of Tang Yin, a famous artist and poet of the Ming Dynasty who was born and died in Suzhou.

The artist's life, full of drama and creative passion, was depicted by the means of dance and the contrasts of colors -- the actors' black-and-white costumes and a scarlet cloak appearing over the scene.

The classically trained Suzhou dancers demonstrated a superb command of technique in this modern dance production, which the spectators met with long and warm applause.

Suzhou is a sister city of Riga. The world-famous dance troupe had arrived with the guest performance in Riga at the invitation of the Latvian capital city's local government.

The day before showing the production about Tang Yin, the theater's artistic director Ying Li and Jianping Ou, director of the Dance Research Institute of the Chinese National Academy of Arts, gave a seminar in Riga devoted to the past 65 years of Chinese choreography, its trends and innovations.

Ying Li, a prima-ballerina since 1987, mainly shared her own creative experience of an award-winning dancer, choreographer and manager of dance companies.

Jianping Ou, meanwhile, presented a more theoretical, academic perspective on the art of dance.

Suzhou Ballet Theater, a youthful and vibrant Chinese dance troupe, was established relatively recently, in 2007.