Unity, grace and revival of ancient culture are just some of the values that audiences were able to take away from the first showing of New Tang Dynasty Television's Chinese New Year Spectacular in Sydney.
"I think within the cultural mix we have seen tonight it was tremendous," Rebecca Le Torneau said, "the costumes were spectacular, the amazing accuracy and gentleness – the diverse strength combined with the gentleness was absolutely sensational."
The Spectacular sets out to embrace the diverse peoples and traditions throughout the region, painting a rare picture of harmony that has long been lost from one of the most ancient civilisations.
Among the five performances inspired by ethnic groups, such as Mongolian and Dai, was a dance piece from Tibet – Snowy Mountain, White Lotus.
"I thought it was terrific the way [the emcees] explained the importance of the white scarves first, and the meaning behind those scarves," said Ms Le Torneau.
Her husband, journalist Neil Mercer commented that "the costumes [of Snowy Mountain, White Lotus] were wonderful and beautiful and the dancers were incredibly gracious – it was great."
The elongated white sleeves worn by the women dancers are used to mimic the long pieces of cloth, known as khataghs which were traditionally given as a sign of respect.
Mr Hong, a photographer from Carlingford, thought Snowy Mountain, White Lotus was very traditional. "It's a very spiritual dance. That's khatagh – pure spiritual love for mankind," he said.
Even more refined is the deeper meaning of dance - the white colours in the costume representing the rare snow lotus, which blooms in high, snow capped mountains, impervious to the weather.
Dr Sev Ozdowski OAM, Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney remarked that the Snowy Mountain, White Lotus was his favourite dance.
"It was possibly the best dance – I loved very much the colours, the movement – when I look at the white with blue and all the bits of the rainbow - it was very, very entertaining, but interesting and very delicate and I wouldn't mind seeing it again.
"It was delicate in the sense that the movement was very measured in its power," Dr Ozdowski added.
Ian Cohen NSW Greens MP agreed in sentiment with Dr Ozdowski and said "the Tibetan dancing [was] very graceful, the costumes and the dancing flowed with a real natural beauty."
Tibet has always been regarded as a special region, marked by strong spiritual values and a rich culture. Like all ethnic minorities inside China's borders, the Tibetans are a significant and essential piece of the puzzle.
All of the dances in NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular are performed by the Divine Performing Arts. Their mission is to rediscover the essence of true, traditional culture and to bring arts to the world that celebrate human dignity and positive values.
The Epoch Times is proud to join with New Tang Dynasty TV and Sound of Hope Radio in co-sponsoring NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular ( http://shows.ntdtv.com. )
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