ST. LOUIS, MO—After seeing the Chinese Spectacular at the Touhill Performing Arts Center in St. Louis on Wednesday evening, Jack Galmish said the unique cultural show was "great art."
"It's wonderful, it's very visual ... What I am seeing this evening is an expression of life in China that I haven't seen expressed other forms of art before. This is something new to me," said Galmish, president of Channel Nine, the public broadcaster in Portland, Oregon.
"I especially enjoyed the dance. I liked the drums, they are so powerful. The other thing I enjoyed about the program was the artistic expression of many of the dances. That was wonderful."
Galmish singled out the piece, 'The Risen Lotus Flower', for special mention.
"The one that acted out the scene in the prison was especially moving ... there was an especially moving scene with the portrayal of the prisoners and their quest for freedom and the defence of the young women in the prison. That was a very moving performance."
He added that he looks at the piece "from the artistic expression of the performance itself. What I see is: great performance, great music, and it comes through their expression of the art."
Galmish said he particularly enjoyed 'Nymphs of the Sea' and the 'Mongolian Bowl Dance', which was "a great expression of how the women were able to dance and kept balance... perfect posture...it's wonderful."
Regarding the MCs introducing each performance in both English and Chinese, Galmish said he hadn't seen that type of introduction before. "I thought that was very good."
He was also impressed by the innovative animated digital backdrops, some of which are hand-painted.
"I do like the backdrop, of the visual images. I am amazed at the size, the magnitude of the performance, of the stage and how they use it. They helped in the understanding of the performances especially the vocal performances. It was nice to see the translations of the songs."
"I would give it a 10," said Galmish. "The costumes are beautiful, the music is wonderful, the performers are wonderful, the dancers are absolutely outstanding."
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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