Dancers from the Shanghai Dance Theatre perform The Eternal Wave, a successful show staged recently in the city. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The dance theater production The Eternal Wave met with a similar reception. Liu Kuili, a deputy director of the Shanghai Dance Theatre, says that the company is fully booked until 2021.

By December, The Eternal Wave will have completed 100 performances across dozens of cities in China. The production by the Shanghai Dance Theatre is a story about an underground communist telegrapher who works in the shadows against opposing forces. He is later murdered on the eve of Shanghai's liberation.

According to Chen Feihua, director of the Shanghai Dance Theatre, the company was determined to create a revolutionary-themed production suited to contemporary tastes. To achieve this, the theater hired Han Zhen and Zhou Liya, two female artists in their 30s, who are jointly responsible for the directing and choreography.