China Focus showcases Chinese innovative performing arts at Edinburgh festival

Dancers from Shanghai Theatre Academy perform dance drama The Pure Blue during Edinburgh Art Festival in Edinburgh, Britain, Aug. 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Zheng Bofei)

EDINBURGH, Britain, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The China Focus program opened on Monday at the Edinburgh Art Festival, bringing nine Chinese productions to one of the world's largest arts stages and highlighting the dynamism of contemporary Chinese creativity.

Running from July 30 to Aug. 25, this year's program spans music, dance, theatre, and experimental performance, according to the organizer, the Center for China Shanghai International Arts Festival.

Highlights include the British debut of the China National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra; Personallery 4.0, a fusion of ballroom dance and artificial intelligence inspired by The Peony Pavilion; Zhuangzi's Dream, which combines shadow puppetry with Daoist philosophy; The Pure Blue, a "Fish Dance" performance aimed at raising awareness of ocean conservation.

Neil Semple, deputy head of Creative Industry at the UK's Department for Business and Trade, described Chinese performing arts as a source of vibrant innovation and a driver of cultural collaboration between China and Britain.

Since its inception in 2017, China Focus has brought 35 productions to the Edinburgh festival, drawing over 120,000 audiences with drama, dance drama, musicals, and other genres.

Tang Yingqi, vice president of the Center, said this is the fifth time the organization has led a group of productions to Edinburgh, describing China Focus as a window for overseas audiences to experience China's evolving contemporary art scene.

The Edinburgh Art Festival, which encompasses the International Festival, Fringe, Military Tattoo, International Book Festival, and Visual Arts Festival, attracts tens of thousands of artists from around the world each year.

A dancer from Shanghai Theatre Academy performs dance drama The Pure Blue during Edinburgh Art Festival in Edinburgh, Britain, Aug. 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Zheng Bofei)

Dancers from Shanghai Theatre Academy perform dance drama The Pure Blue during Edinburgh Art Festival in Edinburgh, Britain, Aug. 11, 2025. (Xinhua/Zheng Bofei)