EDMONTON, Canada—Joseph Martin and Amy Wong came to attend the final showing of the Divine Performing Arts Chinese Spectacular on May 7 at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium.
Joseph, from the Edmonton School of Ballet, said "It's a beautiful show. It's a wonderful show. And it displays a lot of the Chinese culture and the ancient culture of China and how far back they go. I think it's a wonderful show."
Amy's impression of Chinese culture is that it's "very extensive, very colourful, there are many facets to it, all the dances come from different parts of China and it shows how vast China is. Beautiful.
"I was born in Hong Kong but I basically grew up in Canada," she explained, "So to me the show brings back a lot of the Chinese culture that I missed growing up in Canada. So for me seeing it, is seeing it mostly through western eyes, with a little bit of Chinese culture mixed in. When they talk about some of the stories, I remember them from bedtime when my mother used to tell me stories.
"For example, about 'The Lady on the Moon'. That story, one of my aunts was named after that lady on the moon. So I remember that story about the nine suns, about the lady… It brings back childhood memories of spending time with my mother, at bedtime she would tell me these stories, just childhood."
Joseph commented: "I like the drummers of course, because I like drums and I like the martial artists because I'm in ballet but I used to be in martial arts. I grew up in martial arts," he said, adding that he has practiced for over 30 years, "I like the martial artists because I like their moves. Very smooth moves.
| "Their flexibility and their physical conditioning is very impressive, very impressive." — Joseph Martin
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"I think [the female dancers] are very well trained and they've been doing this for many years. You can tell it's their life. It's their life and they've been doing this since they were children. Much as I've been doing what I've been doing since I was a child. Their flexibility and their physical conditioning is very impressive, very impressive. Compared to ballet, it's different. It's not as fluid moving. It's very close but it's not as fluid moving. And they're not on their toes. They're on the balls of their feet as we were in martial arts. And a lot of times they are on the flat of their feet.
"It almost imitates the martial arts, the way they're moving here. It's a little more rigid and a little more defined in the pauses. It's not as smooth flowing as ballet is or other martial arts that I've studied from other countries. Chinese arts were never as smooth flowing compared to other martial arts and to ballet. Kung fu is kind of smooth flowing but it stops.
"I liked the outfits. Their outfits are phenomenal. I liked how they were harmonious with one another. The drums were all on the same beat and the same timing—I do like drums because it stirs up the warrior in people. Drums are always used to stir up warriors, before a war, before a battle. And that's what the drums signify to me, that a battle is going to take place.
"Maybe many more of the culture that China has who's just beginning to wake up to rise and realize themselves. China's on the rise right now and they are realizing who they are, their tradition, their culture, and their place in the world. They were a very humble race before, and still are and they were silenced by many.
"It's a wonderful show. It depicts the culture of China and 5000 years or more."
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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