On November 21, 2025, ZOU Zhirui, one of the initiators of the ICEE Ballet Aesthetic Education Program and a professor in the Ballet Department of the Beijing Dance Academy, donated the newly published book The Classical and Popular Nexus in Ballet, printed and published by the United Nations, to the UNESCO International Centre for Engineering Education and the Graduate School of Education at Tsinghua University.

The Classical and Popular Nexus in Ballet Art introduces the development of the Chinese ballet school and analyzes the new stage in which Chinese ballet has entered the era of “national-style ballet,” represented by ballet with distinct Chinese characteristics. The book has now been added to the collection of the Harvard University Library.

Certificate of Book Donation 

Within the “ICEE Ballet Aesthetic Education Program,” Professor ZOU Zhirui emphasizes that the courses do not focus on physical ability or the pursuit of professional techniques, but are instead designed to enhance students’ aesthetic appreciation and cultivate elegance of character. Throughout the ICEE Ballet Aesthetic Education Program, she has remained committed to promoting ballet art among a broader group of students outside the ballet major, giving full play to ballet’s unique role in aesthetic education.

Professor ZOU Zhirui Teaching In Class 

The “ICEE Ballet Aesthetic Education Program” was initiated by ICEE in September 2021. It is organized and implemented by the Beijing Huanyu Ballet Art Center, with support from the Center for Arts Education Tsinghua University. The program includes offering “one ballet elective course,” organizing “one ballet appreciation activity,” hosting “one ballet-themed event,” and establishing “one ballet aesthetic education society.”