EDMONTON—Having traveled to over 60 cities around the world, the Divine Performing Arts Chinese Spectacular played its final show of the season at Edmonton's Jubilee Auditorium on Wednesday evening.
The Spectacular received rave reviews from audience members wherever it played, and nutrition student Mina Ghoreishi, was no exception.
"It was truly amazing, I really liked it, it was colorful and so organized, beautiful, and truly meaningful as well," she said.
What she found meaningful, explained Ghoreishi, was "how they were telling the stories and especially Power of Awareness is what I really, really liked. They were really showing all their emotions through the movements of their bodies, and it was really amazing to watch."
Power of Awareness depicts a little girl and her mother who are practicing Falun Gong in a public park. When Chinese Communist Party scoundrels attack the practitioners, bystanders rally round to protect them.
Falun Gong, is a spiritual practice rooted in ancient Chinese culture which has as its principles Truth, Compassion and Tolerance. It is currently being brutally suppressed by the Chinese communist regime.
"I know a little bit about Falun Gong, and about truth, compassion and forbearance, and that's what I think came out of almost all of the dance performances, is those three messages," said Ghoreishi.
"It was amazing, that's all I can say. It was really amazing and beautiful."
Ghoreishi, said some of her favorite pieces were Mongolian Bowl Dance , the two drum pieces Drummers of the Tang Court and Victory Drums , and Ladies of the Manchurian Court .
She thinks all age groups would enjoy the Spectacular .
"I saw little kids here today to people a little bit older, seniors, and everybody enjoyed it. So I would recommend it to all age groups, everybody."
"It was really amazing to see the little kids and I thought at the beginning 'it's 2 hours and it might be a little long for them,' but they were enjoying it and you couldn't hear anything from them during the show. So they were definitely enjoying it."
She felt the show gave the kids a chance to "definitely learn about other cultures, about Chinese culture, about the beauty of the dance and the rich culture."
Ghoreishi added that she "really liked the erhu." She also commented on the costuming, and was surprised at how the dancers balanced the bowls on their head during the piece, Mongolian Bowl Dance.
"The Tibetan dance with the long hair and long braids, it was really amazing. And also the monks, the guys with the blue hair, everything from their outfits to their accessories."
"Their hair, their fans and the bowls — I was really surprised when they pulled out two bowls out of that one bowl that was on top of their head. I was amazed at how they were balancing."
"It was awesome, the control that they had," said Ghoreishi's husband, Hooman Askari, a University of Alberta Professor in the Civil Engineering Department. He added that the show "was really great, it was awesome. I really enjoyed it."
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