VANCOUVER—When Dennis Lord, a journeyman painter, saw the Chinese Spectacular at Surrey's Bell Performing Arts Centre on Sunday evening, he sensed power exuding from the performances.
"I really enjoyed it," said Lord.
"Power — the music and the dance display a lot of inner power plus outer power, a lot of understanding. When you read the dance, there is just a lot of fluid motion, harmony. And you can't forget the drums. That is a lot of power, not just always masculine power, but it's an inner strength."
Lord's friend, Leah Chu, was especially impressed by the Chinese classical dance and the soprano, tenor and baritone solos.
"Everything was good. Some of the dances were very smooth, not jumpy or anything. They walked with really slow steps and it flows very easy. All three singers: the woman, the man who was very deep, and the tenor. I really liked it."
Chu, who is of Chinese descent and says her lineage goes all the way back to the Tang Dynasty, was interested in the Spectacular for its portrayal of Chinese culture and history.
"In North America we always get taught the Caucasian way of history, but we are never taught any other culture, their viewpoint. So I was looking at this for the Chinese viewpoint of history and culture."
Chu added that she learned from her father "the old Chinese ways to read and write. I understand the old traditional Chinese writing and poetry."
Lord said he admired the Spectacular for its depth and substance.
"I think we need more of this, because we just don't have this. If I were to go to Reno, I would see women dressed scantily, and I will get a show, but I won't get substance. I would like to see more of this."
After travelling to over 60 countries on four continents, the New York-based Divine Performing Arts will wind up the Canadian leg of its 2008 international tour with shows in Edmonton from May 5-7.
Part of this article is based on an interview conducted by NTDTV, a media partner of The Epoch Times.
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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