Dance in Film · 1972
The White-Haired Girl (1972)
A colour film of the complete revolutionary model ballet, adapted from the 1945 opera by Shanghai Dance School in 1964 and choreographed by Hu Rongrong, Fu Aidi, Cheng Daihui and Lin Yangyang. Xi'er's flight into the mountains and the whitening of her hair are carried entirely by classical ballet vocabulary bent to Chinese folk idiom, making the film one of the fullest surviving records of the Cultural Revolution's ballet repertoire.
The White-Haired Girl is a 1972 dance feature film centred on Ballet. For dancers, it's a chance to see the style performed on screen — the phrasing, partnering, and musicality that the same dances carry onto a real floor.
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Dance styles featured
The dance sequences in The White-Haired Girl
4 sequences — what is danced, by whom, and where to find it.
Cave reunion and liberation finale
Classical BalletDanced by Shi Zhongqin; Ling Guiming · Choreography Hu Rongrong; Fu Aidi; Cheng Daihui; Lin Yangyang
Dachun recognizing Xi'er in the cave, followed by the village ensemble moving toward the rising sun.
The cave reunion resolves the ballet's separation through a technically demanding duet before the film expands into a collective liberation tableau built for the camera.
Watch this sequence · Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. No edition-specific timestamp was inferred. China Movie Channel's opened VIP playback page describes the 1972 seven-scene Shanghai Film Studio ballet film, but its adjacent year/director/cast fields belong to the distinct 1950 feature; timestamps and edition metadata are therefore withheld. VIP playback may require paid and territory-specific access.
New Year's Eve at Yang Bailao's home
Classical BalletDanced by Mao Huifang; Dong Xilin · Choreography Hu Rongrong; Fu Aidi; Cheng Daihui; Lin Yangyang
Xi'er and her father preparing for the New Year before Huang Shiren's arrival turns celebration into violence.
The father-daughter opening gives the screen ballet an intimate dramatic baseline before the debt confrontation, using ballet phrasing within the work's Chinese folk- and opera-inflected movement language.
Watch this sequence · Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. No edition-specific timestamp was inferred. China Movie Channel's opened VIP playback page describes the 1972 seven-scene Shanghai Film Studio ballet film, but its adjacent year/director/cast fields belong to the distinct 1950 feature; timestamps and edition metadata are therefore withheld. VIP playback may require paid and territory-specific access.
Temple confrontation with Huang Shiren and Mu Renzhi
Classical BalletDanced by Shi Zhongqin; Wang Guojun; Chen Xudong · Choreography Hu Rongrong; Fu Aidi; Cheng Daihui; Lin Yangyang
The white-haired Xi'er confronting her persecutors at the temple and driving the action into Dachun's pursuit.
The revenge encounter turns pointe work, repeated single-leg turns, jumps from the altar, and martial-arts-inflected attack gestures into narrative combat.
Open the film at this point · Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. No edition-specific timestamp was inferred. China Movie Channel's opened VIP playback page describes the 1972 seven-scene Shanghai Film Studio ballet film, but its adjacent year/director/cast fields belong to the distinct 1950 feature; timestamps and edition metadata are therefore withheld. VIP playback may require paid and territory-specific access.
Xi'er flees into the mountains and becomes the White-Haired Girl
Classical BalletDanced by Mao Huifang; Shi Zhongqin · Choreography Hu Rongrong; Fu Aidi; Cheng Daihui; Lin Yangyang
Xi'er crossing water, shaking trees for fruit, fighting off beasts, and turning through snow as her hair and costume change.
Sustained leaps, turns, runs, and survival actions compress years of exposure into a visible transformation, with successive performers carrying Xi'er from black hair through grey to white.
Open the film at this point · Stream or rental only — the timestamp is for when you have it playing. No edition-specific timestamp was inferred. China Movie Channel's opened VIP playback page describes the 1972 seven-scene Shanghai Film Studio ballet film, but its adjacent year/director/cast fields belong to the distinct 1950 feature; timestamps and edition metadata are therefore withheld. VIP playback may require paid and territory-specific access.
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