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And in 1995, following Peng's recommendation, Qiu left home for Shanghai Ballet School. Based on her age, Qiu was admitted into the third grade.

Compared to her classmates who had received two years of systematic training, Qiu's only coaching was dancing once a week with Peng's amateur team. From being a lead dancer, Qiu descended to being the ugly duckling in the new class.

To catch up with the rest, she worked extra hard, dancing when others were taking afternoon naps or shopping on weekends. Life was tough. Being alone in Shanghai, she also suffered from bad homesickness.

But five years later, her break came, and all her tears and effort paid off. During a trip to Germany, Peng gave the famous German ballerina Birgit Keil a video of Qiu's performance.

Keil, who was also director of the Academy of Dance of the Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts, liked what she saw and offered Qiu a scholarship.

From 2000 to 2003, Qiu studied under Keil. "I learned not only the techniques, but also how to dance with emotions and how to portray a character," Qiu says.

Upon graduation, she auditioned at the prestigious Bavarian State Ballet - the greenest among the 400 hopefuls. Many of them were already professional dancers.

"I just did my best," she says.

Perfect form for a tea ceremony

She did not even realize that she had passed the audition when she was asked to perform a modern piece with nine other finalists. After the dance, a guy came up to her and said, "congratulations!" He was Ivan Liska, director of Bavarian State Ballet.

The audition propelled her dancing career. Four years with the Bavarian State Ballet, Qiu developed from a fresh ballet student to a mature ballerina.

"I don't like the simple white swan that much any more. To me, the sophisticated characters in La Traviata or Onegin are more interesting," she says.

She also has been exploring contemporary ballet. In 2004, she choreographed Cafe 1930 to the Piazolla's tango, followed by some other minor contemporary programs.

But Qiu soon became fed up of the mundane life she had led, which comprised only dancing. "From dance class to rehearsal rooms to stage and dorm, it is just too simple. I want to see more of the outside world and I want to be 'rich' mentally."

She left Bavaria for Paris where she took a MBA course at Mod'Art International. She went to galleries and museums to absorb the art culture and even learned oil painting from a local artist.

A more ambitious dream was born in Paris.

"Usually, a dancer become a choreographer or a coach when she is no longer young, no longer fits the stage. I want to do more while I am still young," she says.

After getting her MBA degree in 2009, she decided to return to China and established Wave Art Studio in Beijing.

"Only when you become head of a studio, a producer, then you realize how easy it was as a dancer," she says. "But I do not regret. I enjoy everything I do now."

In August 2009, she produced a gala Chinese L'amant at Reignwood Theater in Beijing. She choreographed and performed a pas de deux based on a popular Chinese novel Half Flame, Half Sea Water by Wang Shuo.

Qiu was commissioned to do Chopin on Toe, which toured Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing in 2010 - the 200th anniversary of the birth of Chopin.

After reading the love poems by the 6th Dalai Lama Tsang Yang Gyatso (1683-1706) while traveling in early 2011, she decided to create a dance about Tibet.

She went to Tibet several times in the last two years to learn more about Tibetan music and dance as well as to experience the holy plateau.

She has even invited a Tibetan dancer to choreograph with her and Zhang Tian'ai to design the costumes. A team including composers from China and abroad is writing the music scores. The show is scheduled to premiere late this year.

On Feb 14, Valentine's Day, Qiu and young pianist Sun Yingdi will perform Ballet on the Fingers at the National Center for the Performing Arts.

Contact the writer at chenjie@chinadaily.com.cn.