Twenty-five-year-old Xu Yan is a ballet dancer at the National Ballet of China. She trains six days a week from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and even more in the afternoon. This is the norm in her life. All the classes and rehearsals prepare her for over a hundred performances each year. The ballet piece "Jewels," which ended this month, saw her and her classmates on stage. Xu Yan was one of the leading roles. "Jewels" is a three-act ballet created by American dancer and choreographer George Balanchine.