LONDON—Warm applause greeted the sight of the opening scene, as the curtain rose on Divine Performing Arts (DPA) third night in London’s West End. As the curtain fell on the second curtain call at the end of the show, the full house at the New London Theatre rose to a standing ovation.
The sight of the dancers in The Mystical Phoenix as the curtain rose on the opening performance of the second half, drew a spontaneous audible “Ah” from the audience.
“I love the dancing. I think it’s fabulous,” commented Ms. Selford, a teacher of middle-east dancing, who was inspired by “the costumes the colours and the beauty.
“The acrobatic training is absolutely world-class,” she said.
Classical Chinese dance has its own complete set of training methods in foundational skills, a strict regimen for perfecting bearing and form, and means of training for skill sets such as jumps, turns, and flips, as well as extremely demanding aerial techniques, culminating in an enormous dance system. The aerial movements of classical Chinese dance contain a wealth of high-flying dives, dexterous leaps, and diverse spins.
“I think that the Chinese culture is so wonderful, it’s so deep.”
Ms. Selford teaches all over the world and specialies in Middle Eastern dances, including those of Egypt, Tunisia, and North Africa.
She saw the DPA show last year at the Royal Festival Hall in London and plans to attend next year.
Another member of the audience who intends to return for next year’s show was Mr. Bun, the owner of a catering business, who travelled from Oxford to see the show.
“The music was fabulous and the singers were brilliant,” he said. He singled out the performance Mulan Joins The Battle as his favourite.
