She is known for playing the valiant and heroic warrior “Hua Mulan” as well as the laid-back concubine Yang in the dance drama “Du Fu.” Her name is Hao Ruoqi - one of China's most popular female dancers of the post-90s generation. The 30-year-old is a member of the China National Opera and Dance Drama Theater.

In 2017, Hao Ruoqi starred in the lead role of the historical dance drama named after the legendary female Chinese warrior Hua Mulan.

“The spirit of Mulan exists in everyone’s mind. From ancient times to the present, the image of this legendary heroine has been widely circulated, conveying the power of women. I am fortunate to be able to spread the energy of Mulan through dance. I think Mulan was not only a strong person, but also a woman who was capable of great love, wisdom and the ability to embrace everything. Maybe we share similar sentiments about life in the military, which I also have experience of,” Hao said.

She said the initial rehearsals for “Mulan” did not go very smoothly. However, Hao pushed her limits when approaching the character.

She described taking the role as a learning experience and a great challenge.

“During rehearsals, I cried every night when I returned to the hotel, just to release the pressure. At that time, I thought to myself that never again in my life would I want to dance after ‘Mulan,’” she said.

“I was under a lot of pressure, but I grew up during that period, which took quite some time. I thought that even if my appearance was up to scratch, I still needed to portray every aspect of Mulan’s character very carefully” in order to resonate with the audience, she added.

Hao Ruoqi said the action scenes were especially difficult.

“We hired professional martial arts instructors, from whom I learned Chinese boxing routines. I had one fight scene with my partner, who played the character of a general, which lasted almost five minutes. That was particularly exhausting,” she said.

“It was carefully choreographed with fighting moves, and we rehearsed it thoroughly as it was quite tough to integrate the dancing with martial arts. We tried to present the authentic charm of Chinese martial arts using swords and spears,” Hao said.