- Tan joined the San Francisco Ballet when she was 18. Before that, the company had never had an Asian principal dancer. An unexpected opportunity arose when Tan was asked to master Balanchine's "Stravinsky Violin Concerto" with only one night to prepare. With her solid mastery of the fundamentals and her determination, she was able to perform it the next day. During the following year and a half, she took on roles in many major performances including "Sleeping Beauty" and "Swan Lake" and became a principal dancer after only two years. Tan considers herself a whirling dervish, balancing a perpetual struggle between the beauty she seeks to express and the pain she must endure. She has devoted her life to ballet. Tan's performance during her episode of The Reader received critical acclaim in China. Online fans across the country were highly supportive, praising her as the "irreplaceable pride of China on the global stage". We look forward to Tan continuing her globe-spanning journey. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/721464/China_TV_program_The_Reader_Tan_yuanyuan.jpg