CANBERRA—Teacher Frances Szeremet brought her daughter Lisa to the Chinese Spectacular in Canberra.
The beauty and clever staging of the show impressed her, but she also responded on a deeper level. She said her daughter learned about Chinese culture,"and even the truthfulness, and compassion ... it's actually, because of the Olympics being in China, it's good timing. And before the last number, that was really beautiful. They had the banner with truthfulness, compassion and forbearance, just to keep all of us in mind."
She said she liked that, "Yes, I did, it's also contemporary as well. I just enjoyed it."
Touched by Vitality, Culture
Like many people around the world, she was struck by the vitality of the performance "I thought the show was vibrant, colourful. And the dancers were so graceful and peaceful." She found the use of simple objects to enhance some dances intriguing saying, "the fan, the chopsticks, the drums, it's just amazing, just that little prop. Especially that sea number ['Nymphs of the Sea'], if you have seen at the beginning with those blue fans, they just looked like real waves, they really know how to—it's really a divine art, actually, it really is."
Szeremet said she found that the show reflected Chinese culture very well. "It's peaceful, it's soothing, yes, I did. It's so beautiful." She thought the visual art in the backgrounds, "blends in so well with the dances. They had some of the images, some of the graphics in the background, it really complemented it well."
Daughter Lisa also enjoyed the performance. She said "It was good, and I liked the drums and the costumes, and I liked all the sparkle stuff on the costumes, and yeah. She said other students who did not attend the event "missed out!"
Her mother encouraged others to attend "Oh, go, especially if you're one of those persons who likes classical music, and just the gracefulness, the way the dancers were moving, it's just so soothing, so peaceful."
School Teacher Admired and Learnt From the Show
Szeremet seemed to admire and respect the Chinese people. She said "They do have the strength and … if you have to do something difficult, it just puts you into the mood… and the music reflects the way the Chinese are as their nature. Most of them are sort of humble. I just enjoyed it so much, it reflected their culture."
"You do learn by coming and watching a show like that. The way they presented themselves, even the presenters were so wonderful. Sometimes they even had the opening lines that were funny; some of the jokes were really good. It blended in really well with the show. I would really go for it again. I would advise everybody to come and see the show."
Sees Deeper Meaning
She addressed the idea of the artists trying to convey deeper meaning, "Oh yes, for people who want to open and broaden their minds, it is. I mean, that's what, in order to learn about a culture, you need to do—you need to open your mind. And they presented really well, they presented a number of aspects of their culture, and their destiny as well, that blended in so well with their performances."
"Even by watching you learn a lot about their culture, traditions, lifestyle, their way as people.
She referred to the dance "The Fruits of Goodness", I'm glad at the end of the whole scene, the way the other people—the people in the temple were treating the rebels—they came to see the truth, and started to behave accordingly."
She felt people on a mistaken path can change, "I think eventually they would (change) once they are mature. A lot of teenagers once they are mature know what they have done wrong and reflect back and think 'that was silly of me.'"
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/
Feeds