STOCKHOLM—Ms. Zhang shared her feelings with us as soon as she finished watching the Divine Performing Arts Chinese Spectacular in the Linkoping Concert & Congress Hall on March 27 in Stockholm, Sweden. She talked about her long-existing feeling of embarrassment for the absence of traditional Chinese culture before the show.
"After I came to Sweden, some Swedish friends asked me, 'What is the difference among Chinese, Japanese and Koreans? The Japanese have kimono and Koreans have their characteristics, what do you have that belongs exclusively to Chinese culture?' I was speechless, I had nothing to tell them."
"I thought of Beijing Opera, but my generation had completely abandoned it. Every time someone asked me similar questions, I felt very pitiful, because as a Chinese, a lot of people including me have lost our heritage! Since childhood, we had been told that we have five thousand years of history and rich culture, but show me the history and show me the culture! No wonder foreigners don't understand."
Today We Showed the Swedes!
"Today I felt we showed the Swedes what traditional Chinese culture is by the performance! I saw it was very well received by the audience. Moreover, unlike movies or concerts in China, at today's show, I saw no one leaving early. I was very surprised and very proud. Because it means they were moved by our culture! While watching the show, many Swedes sitting around me nodded and smiled at me, which made me even more proud. I wanted to tell them, this is our root! And I finally found something about our wonderful culture to show you today!" Her face was glowing as she talked.
Divine Performing Arts Company is True to Its Name
She heard of the Divine Performing Arts from a Chinese friend in France. "My friend told me there was a show promoting traditional Chinese culture. Some Chinese friends had watched it and recommended it. I was going to make a trip to a nearby city to watch it, to my surprise, when I looked for it on the Internet; I found it was coming to town at the Linkoping, so I bought a ticket immediately."
"Today I watched the show and felt very good. It is certainly worth the money. The show featured distinctive ethnic flavors, and I was especially impressed by the two Mongolian dances, which fully expressed the ethnic characters. I like it very much"
"I have walked away from the CCTV (Chinese Central Television)'s Chinese New Year show for a long time. I felt it very boring and losing its ground. I like ethnic and folk arts, because these are the roots of our nation."
Rebuild Our Values
Ms. Zhang felt she had absorbed much of the essence of traditional Chinese culture through the show, and it would take her some time to digest. "It's hard for me to describe what the traditional Chinese culture is right now, because the show conveyed many elements of traditional Chinese culture by music and dance. I found the pieces about Falun Gong very shocking, which I would never have had a chance to see in China. I will therefore reassess some of my values in judging things, and I need some time to ponder."
"I will recommend the show to my Swedish friends and tell them it displays the most authentic Chinese culture. I'm sure they will be interested, because they have been questioning a lot of things in contemporary China. I will tell them this belongs to China!"
For information about upcoming Divine Performing Arts shows, please visit:
www.BestChineseShows.com.
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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