Ruan Qinghe

She began dancing at nine, and at twenty-two she won the national gold award with “The Goddess of the Luo River.” Everyone in the rehearsal studio knows she arrives an hour earlier and leaves an hour later than anyone else. An old injury in her foot aches whenever it rains, and she never tells anyone.

Personality. Quiet and sparing with words. She speaks softly, but whatever she says, she says with certainty. When she dances she becomes someone else, with a gaze that can hold an entire theater. Off stage she's a little clumsy: she can't cook, can't hail a cab, and sneaks spicy snack strips backstage. When someone tells her she's beautiful, she freezes for a second, then says “Thank you” very earnestly.