A study in scarlet

The influence of celebrated director Zhang Yimou is stamped all over this beautifully evocative version of his Oscar-nominated film. By collaborating with the National Ballet Of China, he has helped to create a piece of work that is sweepingly cinematic, intriguingly different and genuinely moving. And the performances demonstrate that China's new generation of dancers - free from Madame Mao's 'model' ballets - will soon become a force to be reckoned with in world ballet.

The film's story has been simplified for the stage: a young girl is forced to leave her Peking Opera sweetheart and become the third wife of a wealthy older man. Zhu Yan, taking this role on the opening night, displayed a long-limbed elegance and an accomplished emotional range, moving fluidly in her passion, spikily in despair, and agonisingly vulnerable in the bloody aftermath of her wedding night.

Soloist Meng Ningning is stunning as the second wife, furious at the new girl's arrival and determined to become their master's favourite once more. She adopts a feline grace when she is scheming her rival's downfall and reveals jagged desperation when she, too, is condemned to death for her trouble.

The blend of East and West is most strikingly achieved in the beautiful scene where the Peking Opera performs at the master's house: a demanding sequence combining moves from both dance forms but stunningly realised, with help from JèrÙme Kaplan's traditional cheongsam costumes, Zeng Li's thoughtful stage design and a haunting score by Qigang Chen.

But the images that stay in the mind are the tableaux created before us, especially the devastating closing image of violent death blanketed by snow.

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