By Clearwisdom reporter He Yu

(Clearwisdom.net) Like many other people in the audience, Jannie Powell, a retired teacher from Mississippi, together with her daughter's family, lingered in the lobby after watching the third show of the Chinese New Year Splendor by the Divine Performing Arts company of New York at Radio City Music Hall.

Jannie Powell and her family: "We were totally intoxicated by the entire show"

Ms. Powell said to the reporter excitedly, "The show was excellent! It's a pity we came late. My daughter remembered the time wrong, so we did not get to the theater until after 8 o'clock. When we walked in, someone was singing onstage, and the song had something to do with the persecution in China. Because it was sung in Chinese, I was reading the English subtitles. It reminded me of the time when racism was prevailing in the south, where the white people didn't want to take the same bus with the black people. I felt very sad, so I did not want to listen to the song. I would rather see something happy, the beautiful dances.

"Later, a young lady told me the song was about the persecution of Falun Gong in China, and then I began to understand what it was about. I started to enjoy the peaceful and graceful way they used to tell people the truth. I think you should tell people about it. I suffered much racial discrimination and injustice, and at that time, a lot of people didn't know about it. I'm 72 years old now; I have experienced a lot, too much..."

Jannie said that these songs helped her understand that everyone is facing difficulties but everyone has the power of compassion in their heart, and with this power, they can overcome the difficulties.

When asked which performance she enjoyed most, Jannie said, "I like those Korean girls, at the foot of the white snowy mountains, by the side of the lake with water like a blue gem. They were wearing snow-white tops and long blue skirts and danced beautifully. I liked it straight away. Not only were the dance and the backdrop so beautiful, the music too, it was played in such a wonderful harmony with both eastern and western instruments. I like the melody of eastern music. When my daughter was a baby, once I was feeding her, and I heard a melody on the radio... It was so beautiful. My daughter listened quietly while being fed." With these words, Jannie started to hum the melody in the Korean dance and started to dance.

"It's hard to say which one I like best." Jannie continued, "I also like the drum dance. The drum beats expressed excitement and happiness, and the drummers were so neat and they danced like one body, full of power and energy."

Ms. Powell just had so much to share, and in the end she said, "In fact, all the performances were excellent, the songs were very good and every performer was excellent. I was totally intoxicated by the entire show, even the song I mentioned that made me feel sad. I think the song struck my heart. I have been through hardships; I understand that kind of pain. So when the words in the song brought back the forgotten memories, I really felt very sad. Later, after the young lady explained to me, I learned that the words were to wake people's conscience and they had really profound meanings."

"I'm very grateful the show has told me the truth. I thought the Chinese people were all living comfortably. I know there are a lot of people in China, but I thought their economic situation was very good and there was nothing bad happening there. The dance, 'The Power of Awareness' has brought us some inspiration. In the face of injustice, everyone should, and they can, take a right attitude, and they can use their own way to resist injustice. At least they can tell the truth to people around them. I will do this, definitely I will!"

Mentioning the impact of the show on society, Ms. Powell believed that the show imparts a very good message. "I heard someone criticizing the show for having a political flavor, but nowadays, anything that involves the public, or has anything to do with others, falls into the 'political' category. We live on the same planet, and we should all care for each other and encourage each other, and only then can we have a world where we all treat each other like sisters and brothers, regardless of religion, race or skin color."

Posting date: 2/10/2008
Original article date: 2/10/2008
Category: News & Media Reports
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/2/3/171714.html

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