LONDON—The opening performance of the Chinese Spectacular at London's Royal Festival Hall on Friday evening drew a standing ovation from a captivated audience.
A group of work colleagues employed by the holding company Diageo spoke of their impressions after the show.
Uttam Gupta and Tina Maslow, business analysts, and Tim Bergmeier, project manager, heard about the show through a poster and at their workplace.
Gupta thought it was a great show. "Great back drops, I felt really calm while I was watching... For me what I connected with was the water fairies [Nymphs of the Sea] dancing, and I found the Lady of the Moon amusing. It's just what I needed after a week at work."
He enjoyed many aspects of the show, but singled out the two-stringed erhu and the drums as the most impressive.
"All in all the erhu was really special. I can't really single out too many things, but it was beautiful. The erhu and the drums were the highlight," he said. "I enjoyed just sitting there and letting it all sink in. I will tell my friends about this. During the first half I wasn't too inquisitive then I started to understand the story behind it."
Bergmeier was also impressed with the erhu. "The erhu is now my favourite instrument — I loved it. I thought it was much more powerful than the violin. It really was calming, but [an] assertive sound. I will invite all my friends to this show next time."
Bergmemer also shared his thoughts of the pieces in the show which depict contemporary struggles for human rights in China.
"The guys that wore the black gowns, the ones which looked like the communists, they obviously played a part in there which was quite covert in the way that they came in then played a bit of a role then left again. I though they did that part very well and did not over enunciate that there is this strong scenario over there and just touched upon it."
Maslow was particularly interested in the Spectacular because she travelled to China last year, enjoying in particular Nymphs of the Sea and the drum pieces. She also liked the ethnic dances.
"I was surprised by the Mongolian & Tibetan costumes as they were very similar to the dresses worn in Switzerland. It's very inspirational and it makes me want to go there." Maslow said the show also taught her a lot about Chinese history, and sparked her interest in finding out more herself.
"I really want to know what happened with the story of Yue Fei, the one in which the man was tattooed by his Mum. What I want to know now is what happened after the invasion from the North. Did they win or lose or did they have a new emperor? I will have to research Chinese history to find out."
"This show was not over the top. I have been to China and seen similar shows but they were over the top," she said, adding that she was "very surprised about the part where in China they persecute people for their religious belief."
Maslow was referring to pieces in the show which tell the story of a contemporary injustice in China: the persecution of Falun Gong, a meditation practice and spiritual discipline currently being brutally suppressed by the Chinese regime.
For information about upcoming Divine Performing Arts shows, please visit:
www.DivinePerformingArts.org.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Chinese Spectacular. For our complete coverage please visit:
http://en.epochtimes.com/features/dpa2008/
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