World famous dance group back in Preston back for Chinese New Year

The Nanjing Little Red Flower Art Troupe has accepted an invitation to perform at the city’s Guild Hall on February 20 (12.30pm-4pm) to mark the start of the Year of the Dog.

The visit will be the second time in four years that Preston has welcomed the troupe which has been feted around the world since it was founded in the 1950s and became the first children’s group to visit a foreign country.

The Confuscius Institute at the University of Central Lancashire invited the children to perform for the Chinese New Year in 2014 and the concert was a resounding success.

At the time Feixia Yu, the institute’s director, said: “We were delighted that so many schoolchildren from around the Preston area came to see these internationally renowned young performers. It was such a fabulous showcase and it was lovely that two former UCLan Confucius Institute students came back to Preston to be the hosts of the show.”

The Red Flower Art Troupe was launched more than 60 years ago by the Nanjing Bureau of Art. The school combines both cultural education and art education in China and currently has around 200 pupils aged between six and 12.

The troupe regularly performs in the National Chinese New Year Gala on Chinese TV and also puts on shows for visiting heads of state, foreign delegations and diplomatic envoys in China. Tickets £11, concessions £8 and schools £5.50 (10+).