TORONTO—The New York-based Divine Performing Arts dance company drew rave reviews from Torontonians after its Saturday performance at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.
The company presented the second of five Toronto performances of the Chinese New Year Spectacular, which features large-scale dance routines, a combination of Chinese and western music and unique state-of-the art digital backdrops.
"It's the first time I've seen a Chinese show like this," said David Jackson, a mathematician at the University of Waterloo. "I find it most interesting, most entertaining."
Jackson said he enjoyed all the dances but particularly the one about Falun Gong, which he described as "particularly provocative."
He also enjoyed the dance about Tibet.
"The one about Tibet I found to be mysterious. I find Tibet to be a very mysterious place and I'd love to visit there sometime."
"I'm coming again next year and I'm bringing as many people as I can," said ESL teacher Brenda Solomon.
"It was a spectacular show, I was not at all disappointed, just what I expected to see," said Solomon adding that she has always had a love affair with the east so it was particularly interesting.
"I liked the Mongolian bowl dance very much. I think the costumes are just glorious, I really did like that very much...I've always had a fascination for Mongolia," she said.
"What appealed to me is that a mixture of western and eastern cultures and it was a very harmonious mixture."
Gurmeet Singh said a friend invited him to the Spectacular and it was his first time to see the show.
"It was magnificent: the wide array of colors, the choreography and it was just amazing to see the girls and guys up there on the stage just dancing so beautifully," he said.
"I noticed that every song sort of a had a Buddhist connotation to it."
"It's something that I want to see again," said Singh, adding he hoped for another show next year.
A non-profit worker named Angela said her favourite dance was the "Ladies of the Manchu Court."
"I think it was just a great introduction to Chinese culture," said Angela describing the show.
"I think the whole thing, all the costumes, was just beautiful."
Cindy Liang moved from Hong Kong to Canada 36 years ago when she was 11 years old and said the show brought back memories.
"When I left China I was really young," she said.
"[The Spectacular ] reminded me so much about when I was a little girl in China, especially the scenery in the background. It was so relaxing. It bought back memories. It was wonderful."
Performed since 2004, Divine Performing Arts' Chinese New Year Spectacular will stage 220 shows in over 60 cities this year, reaching a total live audience of about 650,000. The tour will span four continents — Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America.
After Toronto, the Spectacular will continue through the U.S., Japan, Korea, Paris, Singapore and Australia before heading to Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton in the spring.
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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