Archives of the Dance (27) The Establishment of Beijing Dance School in the First-Hand Report of Soviet Specialist O. A. Il’ina: Introduction, Translation, Notes

The Beijing Dance School was founded in 1954 by China’s Ministry of Culture to develop the dance arts through professional training in Chinese classical dance, the folk dances of the ethnic minorities and Han Chinese, and ballet and character dance. Ol’ga Aleksandrovna Il’ina’s report, filed with the USSR Ministry of Culture, is the only known Soviet account, covering both the intense preparations for the school and the complexities of its first year of operation. Aspects of her report provide insights into 1) the Soviet model of dance propagation and the nuts and bolts of how it produced the ballet-inflected Chinese dance genres, 2) the convergence of the military dance performance system with the professionalization of civilian dance training, and 3) China’s role in the dance history of the Cold War, specifically the tours of Moiseyev Dance Company and Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Musical Theatre. This article translates Il’ina’s report and provides an introduction and notes.