Japanese Themed Afternoon Tea Celebrates East West Relations

Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, June 24, 2013 --(PR.com)-- East and West Cultures met at a very special event at the luxury Country Hotel Stapleford Park in Leicestershire, where a Japanese themed Afternoon tea was hosted. The Quintessentially British Afternoon Tea was enhanced by Japanese culture and the "East meets West" Puccini opera Madama Butterfly, to create a truly memorable event for guests.

As part of a Japanese Cultural week, Stapleford Park hosted the event, which showcased the vibrant traditions of Japan. These included an exhibition of exquisite kimonos, demonstrations of Japanese sugarcrafts and a short Japanese tea ceremony. The Japanese representatives also donated stunning kimonos for the opera singers to wear during the concert performance of Madama Butterfly as well as beautiful handmade floral decorations for the ladies’ hair.

After the tea ceremony, Viva Live Music, the British Live Entertainment company, presented concert excerpts of Madama Butterfly, with singers that also perform with The Royal Opera and English National Opera companies. The opera, where a beautiful Japanese girl is abandoned by a ruthless American sailor, never fails to touch the emotions and being surrounded by Japanese culture, and there wasn’t a dry eye in the audience when the performance ended.

Viva Live Music’s Creative and Managing Director, Susan Heaton Wright said, “We feel very privileged to have been invited to perform at such a memorable event and at such a wonderful venue. We were struck by the generosity and kindness of the Japanese people that were involved in this event and we believe this only enhanced our performance of Madama Butterfly. Many guests told us how they loved the event.”

Viva Live Music creates a number of themed afternoon teas; previous themes have included a Downton Christmas, Dickens Christmas, James Bond theme for Father’s Day, Afternoon Tea at the Opera, Romantic Songs from the Movies and Songs from the Musicals.