Market strategy in Chinese ballet: Case study of “The Legend of the White Snake”

This study focuses on market strategies within the Chinese ballet industry in China, taking the renowned production 'The Legend of the White Snake' as its central case study. It explores integrating traditional Chinese cultural elements with classical ballet techniques and innovative marketing roles in commercial success filling a gap in systematic analysis of Chinese ballet's artistic-market synergy and offering critical insights for balancing cultural inheritance and commercial viability in the sector. Research on ballet market largely focuses on individual works, adaptations and market strategies development in China. While offering valuable insights, these studies remain descriptive with the lacking of integrative analysis towards artistic innovation and marketing strategies. The purpose of the study is to holistically explore two pivotal dimensions on how cultural-ballet fusion forges unique artistic competitiveness and innovative marketing drives commercial success of such productions. To achieve this, a rigorous mixed-method approach comprising of content analyses, stakeholder interviews and quantitative data analysis is used. Quantitative data includes the increase of ticket sales. Qualitative data including interviews and artistic element analysis supports art-market interaction study. Artistically, traditional dance with water-sleeve gestures, folk steps, pentatonic scales in erhu instrument, stage aesthetics of ink-wash motifs, Jiangnan architecture that integrates with ballet. Marketing initiatives cover cultural/artistic partnerships of Key Opinion Leaders (KOL), targeted digital promotion such as TikTok, Weibo, Xiaohongshu, immersive offline activities themed exhibitions and pre-performance workshops. Cultural-ballet fusion resonates domestic market drives of 47% sales growth which supports the framework validity. Ultimately, the study provides an art-commerce synergy framework, actionable guidance for China's ballet industry and a replicable model for cultural performances that supports sustainable growth of traditional culture inheritance nationally.