Xue Lin was born in Beijing and received her dance training at the Beijing Dance Academy and the School of the Hamburg Ballet. She has been a member of the Hamburg Ballet since 2011, and was promoted to soloist in 2016 and to principal in 2022.
John Neumeier created the roles of the Ballerina Istomina as Cleopatra in Tatiana and A Mystic in Dona Nobis Pacem for her. Her Neumeier repertory also includes the title roles in Anna Karenina and The Little Mermaid, Woman I in Bernstein Dances, Manon Lescaut and Olympia in The Lady of the Camellias, Louise in The Nutcracker, Tamara Karsavina in Nijinsky, Masha in The Seagull, Odette and Princess Claire in Illusions — like Swan Lake, Princess Florine and The Rose in The Sleeping Beauty (new version, 2021) and Pallas Athene in The Odyssey. She has also danced the Pas de Six in Napoli (August Bournonville / Lloyd Riggins) and Olga in Onegin (John Cranko) as well as Princess Perdita in The Winter’s Tale (Christopher Wheeldon) and solos in ballets by Hans van Manen, George Balanchine, Demis Volpi and William Forsythe.
She made a guest appearance in the title role of The Little Mermaid with the National Ballet of China in Wuhan, China.
In 2014 she was awarded the Dr Wilhelm Oberdörffer Prize.
