TOTONTO—Two college professors, a husband and wife, found Saturday's matinee production of the Chinese New Year Spectacular in Toronto a memorable immersion in Chinese culture.
Gary and Joyce Robinson, both professors at Toronto's Centennial College, attended the 2 p.m. show at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, Canada's largest soft-seat theatre.
"It's amazing," said Joyce, who is the coordinator of the arts and science program at Centennial. She said there were messages behind some of the performance and "I really liked the fact that there's two languages and that they explain the performance before it happens—it's really good."
"Spectacular," added Gary, the chair of Centennial's School of Business. "The costumes were really amazing."
The couple was impressed with the Spectacular's authentic portrayal of the variety of ethnic traditions within China.
"What was really good is that they showed all the cultures in China," said Joyce. "It's not that there's just one culture."
Gary praised the digital backdrops, which displayed landscapes of different regions and times in China.
The Robinson's son has lived in Taiwan for ten years. Joyce remarked that the show brought her back to Taiwan, which they've visited.
Among the performances, Joyce found the "Snowy Mountain, White Lotus" performance particularly enthralling. Dancers clothed in Tibetan long-sleeve dresses perform before a mountain landscape.
She added that one performance depicting the persecution of Falun Gong in China today was "really dramatic."
The Saturday matinee was the second of five shows in Toronto. After Toronto, the Spectacular will continue on its global tour, which includes an 11-day run at the legendary Radio City Music Hall in New York.
The Spectacular returns to Canada in the spring to play in Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary. By the end of its tour, it will have played to a total live audience of 650,000 in over 60 cities and 14 countries.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Divine Performing Arts shows that will perform in over 60 cities worldwide in 2008. To find a show near you, please visit www.bestchineseshows.com.
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