Audience Comments from Los Angeles: "It Touched Something Ancient"

By a Clearwisdom reporter

(Clearwisdom.net) On Friday, January 18, 2008, the attendees of the Divine Performing Arts' Chinese New Year Spectacular eagerly anticipated the show's opening night in Los Angeles. From all walks of life, the audience members gathered to experience a wonderful evening of artistic skill and expertise.

Los Angeles natives Lisa Landres and her mother said that they "loved the show." Lisa, a biologist working in Los Angeles, appreciated the way the stories depicted in the dances related to Chinese history. She felt that she learned a lot about Chinese classical dance by reading the program and watching the show. She thought the performance about the Falun Gong women in prison was very special. "First of all because it is talking about a reality that is going on in China now, the oppression of religious beliefs, but also because it had such a beautiful message." She and her mother's favorite part of the program was the drumming, because she felt that it touched something ancient.

Having emigrated from China to the United States forty years ago, Adeline and her parents, Johnny and Marilyn, have attended Chinese performances in the past. Adeline works at a university in Information Technology and thought it was very nice that this show emphasized Chinese history, myths and legends. Her favorite performance was the drums. "It was very exciting. A lot of spirit," she explained. Marilyn liked the tenor while Johnny's favorite aspect of the show were the costumes.

If there was one word that described the Spectacular show in Los Angeles for Jennifer Becker, a Marketing Associate, it would have to be "beautiful." Jennifer exclaimed, "The live orchestra was beautiful, the music was beautiful and so were the songs." The drums, however were her favorite program, because as she said, "They rocked the house."

As a Public Relations Consultant and video producer, Audrey P. Franklin critiqued the Spectacular from a professional point of view. "I think it is a good introduction to Chinese dance." She applauded the announcers who prepared the audience for each performance: "This is good, so people know what to expect." She also remarked that the costuming was magnificent and the dancers had tremendous talent. She found the show to be "very relaxing, enjoyable and peaceful."

Willy Bietak, the president of Bietak Productions, Inc. in LA, a producer of ice skating performance programs, had this to say, "It's a great show! Wonderful. It's a show in which a family can watch a big production together that is lovely, and which is rare these days." He added, "It's beautifully choreographed and each scene is a like a picture opening up, and when the gods arise, you wake up to a painting and they start moving ..."

Mr. Bietak's favorites were also the drummers. "I like the drummers; very strong and with precision." He added that he appreciated the choreography and the spiritual dimension of the performances.

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