(Clearwisdom.net) On May 5, 2008, the Divine Performing Arts New York Company had its first performance of the Chinese Spectacular at the Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton, Canada. Edmonton is the last city on the world tour, which began late last year.
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"The performance gives a sense of heritage and culture"
Alberta MLA Janice Sarich and her husband, Associate Dean of the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Technology at NAIT, attended the Chinese Spectacular. Mrs. Sarich enjoyed the show very much. She said, "It's very entertaining and gives me a sense of heritage and culture. I like the artistic impressions as well, and the athletic ability of the people involved."
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Mrs. Sarich was impressed by the state-of-the-art animated digital backdrops, some of which are hand painted. "I really liked the backdrop, and all of the images that come alive through the artists that are here on stage. You see the various mediums being used from film in the backdrop and then the artistic talents of everyone here. It was a very nice contrast."
Mrs. Sarich's husband Mr. Steve Sarich said he felt privileged to see the show. "It's amazing to see the dance and the music and what the Chinese culture has to offer. I like the story that it tells, you can see that they're trying to show what's happening right now in terms of back home, the oppression and that. It's unfortunate what's happening back home right now."
Mr. Sarich was also very impressed with the backdrops and particularly the performance, "Lady of the Moon." He said, "We've been to a few events here, and cultural dancing, but never the same type of background in terms that it's alive, it's not just a picture at the back -- it moves, and when he was shooting the suns, it was very nice."
Mr. Sarich concluded, "It was wonderful. I would love to come again and see more. Hopefully they'll be coming back next year."
The Spectacular gives a different perspective to Canadians
Alberta Minister of Culture and Community Spirit Lindsay Blackett's job is to introduce people to a variety of cultural events. After attending the premiere of the Chinese Spectacular, he said, "It's something that a lot of people haven't had a chance to see. It's fantastic. I would highly recommend it for anybody."
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Having seen Chinese shows before, Blackett said the Spectacular is different than others he has seen. "Well, it's probably more traditional than some of the ones I've seen. A lot of the ones I've watched before have a lot of acrobatics, and not so much traditional dance. I've seen shows like this, but not as detailed as this and not in a setting like this." He added, "It's traditional, the costumes are beautiful, and I'm just amazed at how many people there are--fifty musicians and fifty dancers."
The drumming performances, "Victory Drums" and "Drummers of the Tang Court," were his favorites. "I loved the drums, I loved the drums. I like the sound. It's always so powerful. I remember, when I looked at them I would think, 'That was what war was like, that's the time of battle.'"
He said the Spectacular gives a different perspective of Chinese culture to Canadians. "Some of it I've never seen before, and it just gives you an appreciation of something different. There's history. And like I said before, living in a place like Alberta where our history is only 100 years old, knowing that this goes back 3000, 5000 years, it's amazing at how you preserve all of that."
Mr. Blackett said he believes that culture should be passed down to later generations. He said, "And in spite of everyone, what happens--whether it's a new government or what has happened over the last 30, 40, 50 years--there's still groups that embrace [traditional culture]. And that's the most important part of culture that you can't forget, and you have to pass it from generation to generation to generation. And then share with others."
An unexpected journey of culture
Mayor of Spruce Grove Stuart Houston and his wife Debra did not know much about Chinese culture before attending the Chinese Spectacular.
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Mayor Houston enjoyed the show and said, "I find it very interesting. It's a new cultural experience for me as a Canadian to see this tremendous performance--to find out the culture of China--I wasn't very aware of it."
Mayor Houston especially enjoyed the drumming, "Drummers of the Tang Court" and "Victory Drums." "I especially enjoyed the drummers, it got my blood flow going. I just liked the way they performed, and I liked the beat that they did with the drums, it was an exciting performance. It seemed to show the history of civilization, where they had wars, in the background it showed a scene of many people, many soldiers."
The mayor added that his favorite piece was "the blue dance" ("Nymphs of the Sea"). "Just the movements of the material, showing the ocean and the beauty of, it was very beautiful. There was another really good one too... the most beautiful dance I saw so far was the one when they had the purple and white ("Mongolian Bowl Dance"), and they had the shimmer, that was...the most beautiful one."
Mayor Houston's wife Debra was very impressed with the beauty and grace of the performance. She said, "From the dancers to the drummers, the beauty, the elegance of all the dancing--just a very nice portrayal of the story lines with the dance. The prison story ("The Risen Lotus Flower") was amazing, I thought it was very moving, that was just an amazing, moving story, which I loved. It's a beautiful way to show a story, without any words, with the dance and the portrayal--it was gorgeous."
Mayor Houston concluded, "We know of Falun Gong, the persecution of the people that try to practice the traditional Falun Gong. And we know that in China it's not allowed, but over here it was good to show."
"A window to learn Chinese culture"
Paul Edwards-Shand, executive assistant of Federal MP Rahim Jaffer, attended the Chinese Spectacular and said, "This will be my second year. I didn't know until this year that it had expanded. I think the Chinese community can be very proud of that. It's quite amazing. I was very, very impressed. I really liked it. It's such a great show."
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"It's really good. Seriously, I'm always amazed at the artistry and the dancers and their ability to communicate story through dance," said Edwards-Shand during the intermission.
"My sense is the passion the dancers bring. You can tell they have a lot of feeling and passion for what they do, and it really carries through to their performance. It's a combination of everything. The movement, the motion, the eyes...it's a graceful dance, a graceful presence when they carry themselves on stage."
Edwards-Shand felt that the Spectacular is also valuable for a non-Chinese audience. He said, "For many westerners, there's a lot we don't know about China. To be able to come into a performance like this gives you a window, an important window into the Chinese culture that one would otherwise not have."
