Taking no chances this time, we had come to see the National Ballet of China perform its signature piece, The Red Detachment of Women, complete with a full orchestra and choir. She escapes and joins an all-women detachment of the Red Army, which is training in the countryside. The Red Army storm the landlord’s hideout in the end and releases those he has imprisoned, but not before Hong dies a martyr’s death. Members of the National Ballet of China perform the The Red Detachment of Women. When I told a friend in her 40s that I was going to see The Red Detachment of Women, she told me it was her father’s favourite work.

Source: The Irish Times March 20, 2026 14:36 UTC