Mediocre and busy as life is, what we are rushing around for is really what we want?
Short and hasty as life is, what we are possessed of actually belongs to us?

The four-act ballet Return on a Snowy Night is adapted from a stage play of the same title by the eminent dramatist Wu Zuguang. It tells a miserable story that Wei Liansheng, a well-known Peking Opera performer, and Yuan Yuchun, a high-ranking official's concubine, fell in love with each other, then were split apart for 20 years and eventually became "butterfly lovers". The ballet, newly revised and debuted at the end of 2009 by the Guangzhou Ballet, is another innovative and exploratory dance work after the Guangzhou Ballet's successful performance of Mei Lanfang and Dreaming Red Mansions.

Return on a Snowy Night, a drama created by the famous Chinese dramatist, and art & literature theorist—Wu Zuguang in the 1940s in Chongqing City, aroused a sensation for quite a time after its performance. In the 1950s, the play was even applauded by the former Premier Zhou Enlai and received his instructions. Over half a century has witnessed its variations in numerous forms of art such as movie, TV, Peking Opera, Ping Opera, and Cantonese Opera, holding great fascination for generations of Chinese audience. Its glamour, never fading away, has made it one of the classic masterpieces in Chinese art.

Based on the original classic, the Guangzhou Ballet takes the initiative in rearranging and programming the work from a modern perspective and in the unique form of ballet. In telling the tragic and moving story, the Guangzhou Ballet's version of Return on a Snowy Night brings into full play the delicateness and expressiveness of dance movement, adding an abstract element to the narrative and lyrical work. The play serves as a beneficial experiment in creating Chinese ballet, by absorbing various elements in terms of dance vocabularies, such as traditional Chinese dance and opera, and by presenting thought-provoking content, vivid figures, distinctive ethnic features and graceful traditional music.

The off-stage staff members include trans-industry elites such as Chen Jianli, a Chinese celebrated director; Fang Ming, a composer for the Beijing Paralympics; Sun Tianwei, stage designer of the famous Chinese dancer Yang Liping's masterpiece Dynamic Yunnan; and Mai Qing, one of the fashion designers for the Beijing Olympics.

Synopsis
The most popular courtesan Yuchun in the whorehouse Chunhonglou was bought back as fourth wife by Su Hongji, president of a court. However, Yuchun was indifferent to her getting out of the living hell and entering a rich and powerful family. One day, Yuchun encountered Liansheng, a popular Peking Opera performer, who left his scarf without knowing it when passing by her. Yuchun picked the scarf up and returned it to Liansheng. They became deeply attached to each other. Nonetheless, they were torn apart for twenty years. On a snowy night after twenty-year departure, Yuchun came back, only to find that Liansheng had already passed away, covered by deep snow. On such a chilling, grim night, looking back on the past, she couldn't help feeling lost...

The Guangzhou Ballet
The Guangzhou Ballet, established in January 1994, is headed by famous dancer Zhang Dandan who is also Artistic Director of the Ballet.

Since its establishment, the Guangzhou Ballet has staged quite a lot of ballet classics including Coppelia, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Giselle etc., defining its performing style as rigorous and orthodox. Besides, it also embraces memorable works by modern choreographers, such as Anna Karenina, The Lady of the Camellias, symphonic ballet Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2, which demonstrates the great vitality and diversity of the Ballet.

The Guangzhou Ballet stands head and shoulders in following Chinese traditions. It rearranges and performs a series of Chinese ballets such as Lanhuahua, Goddess of the Luo River, Celestial Phoenix, Mei Lanfang, Dreaming Red Mansions, Turandot , and Chinese-style symphonic ballets including Yellow River, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai (The Butterfly Lovers), as well as Violin Concerto No.1, revealing its unique style of art and passion for creation.

Meanwhile, the Ballet has attached great importance to talent development. By inviting specialists and celebrated ballet tutors both at home and abroad for training and programming, the troupe has maintained its vigor and vitality, gradually formed a mature artistic style and fostered a good number of exceptional dancers, winning wide attention in the ballet circles both domestically and internationally.

As far as international exchange is concerned, Guangzhou Ballet has also done an excellent job. It has given extraordinary performances in Russia, UK, US, Canada, France, Australia, Italy, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Finland, Peru, Cuba, Japan, South Korean, Mongolia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, enhancing the influence of Chinese ballet in the international arena.