National Ballet of China National Ballet of China The National Ballet of China (NBC), known in China as the Central Ballet Troupe was founded on 31 December 1959. It is the mainland Chinese national ballet troupe. The ballet company works from the Tianqiao Theater, this was specifically built for NBC in 1959, and it was renovated in 2001. This theater is one of a handful of such theaters in China that specialize in ballet and opera performances. In 1954, the first ballet school in China, Beijing Dance School, was established, and in the following years ballets such as "Swan Lake" and "Romeo and Juliet"
Odette Hallowes Odette Hallowes Odette Sansom Hallowes (28 April 1912 – 13 March 1995), also known as Odette Sansom and Odette Churchill, was an Allied intelligence officer during the Second World War. Her wartime exploits and endurance of a brutal interrogation and imprisonment, which were chronicled in books and a motion picture, made her one of the most celebrated members of the Special Operations Executive, the British sabotage and espionage organisation, and one of the few to survive Nazi imprisonment. She was the first woman to be awarded both the George Cross, and to be appointed a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur.