AUCKLAND, New Zealand—Jamee Zohs and friend, Sophie Cotham, saw the Spectacular with Jamee's step-grand-mother, immigration lawyer, Carol Curtis.
Jamee, who is 17, loved the show and said she learnt things that most of her age group knew little about.
"It was awesome. I didn't really know much about Falun Gong until just lately," she said.
"There is so much going on, not just in China, but in the world, [that] people don't about in New Zealand," she added. The most memorable scene in the show for Jamee was in fact, 'The Risen Lotus Flower' where one female Falun Gong practitioner held in detention is cruelly persecuted while attempting to protect two other female practitioners.
"Where they had the beatings, yeah," she said.
Sophie Cotham, who is also 17, said, "It really opened our eyes to other cultures… just what other people go through and how we have it a lot easier."
Sophie said she was most moved by the 'Power of Awareness' "the one where the girl had the banner."
"I think everyone had the shivers about that one because they portrayed it really honestly. They didn't try to hide any of it."
Ms Curtis, who is an immigration lawyer in Auckland said, "I found the show extraordinarily appealing across a wide section of people.
"It's quite nice to be in the audience, seeing the number of people that are here and a wide mix of cultures as well."
She also acknowledged how difficult it must be for those Chinese who cannot return home for fear of persecution.
"For those who can't go back to China, it must be quite heart breaking to see a performance like this and see their country and know they cant go back."
Ms Curtis said the "dancing was fabulous" and "of course the drummers were great" but she was particularly moved by the opera.
"I mean I am mad about opera—that is when I cried. We were talking about when we cried and I cried then in terms of the poignancy of his voice and what was actually on the board. What was on the board was very very moving."
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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