CALGARY—The premiere of the Chinese Spectacular at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium in Edmonton drew a standing ovation from a delighted audience on Monday night.
Alberta MLA, Hon. Janice Sarich, and her husband Steve, both thoroughly enjoyed the show.
"It's very entertaining and gives me a sense of heritage and culture. I like the artistic impressions as well, and the athletic ability of the people involved from the men and women," said Mrs. Sarich.
Mr. Sarich, who is associate dean of the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Technology at NAIT, said they were both happy to have seen the show.
"It's so nice to see, and we feel privileged that we are here. It's new, we didn't know to what extent, how beautiful it is, so it is very nice.
He also commented on how some of the acts depicting oppression in modern-day China.
"I like the story that it tells, you can see that they're trying to show what's happening right now in terms of back home, the oppression and that. It's amazing to see the dance and the music and what the Chinese culture has to offer…. It's unfortunate what's happening back home right now.'
Mrs. Sarich was impressed with the state-of-the-art animated digital backdrops, some of which are hand painted.
"I really liked the backdrop, and all of the images that come alive through the artists that are here on stage, so you see the various mediums being used from film in the backdrop and then the artistic talents of everyone here, so it was a very nice contrast, very nice."
Mr. Sarich added that "we've been to a few events here, and cultural dancing, but never the same type of background in terms of it's live, it's not just a picture at the back — it moves, and when he was shooting the suns, it was very nice."
He was referring to the piece, Lady of the Moon. Mrs. Sarich appreciated the soprano and baritone solos.
"I haven't heard a baritone voice in a long time, so that was very nice to showcase that as well. The baritone and the soprano, it was nice to have that as part of the presentation. I think it's something a bit different to showcase performing arts including drumming, voice, acting, dance, acrobatic, like all of that. It was very nice to see that combination."
They both agreed that the way in which a translation of the songs was projected onto the backdrop was a good idea.
Mrs. Sarich said it was "very helpful to have that, and actually especially if you are presenting to a diverse Canadian audience, that was very nice to have it in English so that it would help people understand."
"I thought it was very nice and I'm enjoying it very much," she said.
"It was wonderful. I would love to come again and see more, and hopefully they'll be coming back next year too," said Mr. Sarich.
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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