A performance based on the novel by Chinese writer Yan Geling. It tells the story of idealistic young people who join the National Dance Ensemble of the People's Liberation Army at the end of the Cultural Revolution. The characters experience love and betrayal, perform feats and unseemly deeds. Their lives are followed up until the 1990s. Later, based on the novel, Yan Geling wrote a screenplay, which was used by director Feng Xiaogang to make a film of the same name.

"First of all, the film is absolutely stunning in its beauty, it is about all-forgiving youth that stays with a person forever, remains something beautiful, regardless of the context of the time, the situation outside the window, the horrors of the "cultural revolution", repressions, war. And it is also a story about invisible heroes, about real idealists who are able to believe sincerely, even when all the foundations of this faith are trampled, destroyed, contrary to common sense and self-preservation. It is a love story, but it is about love," says director Galina Zaltsman.
 

Youth is part of the program Layer, that is dedicated to the study of cinematic texts in the New Space of the Theatre of Nations.