Zhu Yingtai - Chinese Historical Character Portrayed at NTDs Dance Comp

A junior division contestant from Germany, Zhou Yili chose Zhu Yingtai. She's the famous character from the legend of the "Butterfly Lovers"—a Chinese Romeo and Juliet.

Zhou, who got in to the finals, says her friend encouraged her to take on the role.

[Zhou Yili, Dance Contestant]:
"First of all, I thought, I wasn't good enough to play Yingtai. Later on, a friend of mine, she said, 'Oh, I think you can do it.' OK, I'll try it."

Yingtai—a beautiful and bright girl from a rich family during the Eastern Jin Dynasty—loves to study. The story has it that she disguised herself as a man and went to school, where she met and fell in love with Liang Shanbo.

Zhou talks about how she personalizes Yingtai and uses the fan to express the mood of the piece.

[Zhou Yili, Dance Contestant]:
"She was like a girl who just wanted to learn. She went to school in disguise as a guy. And that's why my 'fuzhuang'—my costume is basically like a guy's. My fan is always like my brush—like when I do movements—I always feel like out of the top, like the tip of my fan, there's always like ink coming out."