CANBERRA, Australia—Distinguished human rights activist Sam Salvaneschi said that out of all the performances within the Chinese Spectacular, she learned most from the Tang Dynasty drumming movements.
"I think the drummers from the Tang Dynasty were very impressive, don't you?" said Ms Salvaneschi, a decades-long human rights campaigner, senior lawyer in the ACT Government and key organiser of the ongoing Human Rights Torch Relay.
"I think if you enter the kingdom and see people playing drums, you will think: Wow! These are serious people. They know what they are doing."
Attending Canberra's opening show on Friday night, Ms Salvaneschi said she previously knew little about Chinese culture and was grateful for the introductions given by the comperes before each movement.
"I enjoyed [the Spectacular ] very much", she said. "I am very interested in Chinese history and politics but I am mostly familiar with modern, very modern politics.
"So I was very, very keen to come tonight, very pleased to be invited because I know very little about traditional arts that have been replaced in China since 1949.
"I was very interested to learn about how many acrobatic and gymnastic movements actually derived from Chinese classical dance. That was very interesting to me and that was talked about in the introduction to that segment."
She said she most liked the dance movement 'Lady of the Moon'. Inspired by one of China's best-known legends, the dance depicts a love story between a husband and wife who are parted forever as one ascends to the moon.
"I thought it shows such interesting links between humans and the rest of the environment," Ms Salvaneschi said. "You know, like the forest that they were dancing in and the moon."
For information about upcoming Divine Performing Arts shows, please visit:
www.BestChineseShows.com.
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