After watching Chinese New Year Splendor at Radio City Music Hall on Jan. 30, Sonya Chiang, a Chinese soprano from New York told The Epoch Times she was so surprised by all the performers' talents, and especially praised lead dancer Michelle Ren, "She is like from heaven!"
The Chinese New Year Splendor is presented by the Divine Performance Art company, whose mission is to revive the essence of traditional Chinese culture.
In the interview, Ms. Chiang highly praised the whole evening program, "The stage design is very special, the costumes are beautiful, the background is beautiful, all the colors are soft and fresh, the orchestra is wonderful, and every song is perfect."
Ms. Chiang was also surprised that Divine Performance Arts was able to recruit so many talented artists. "Not just the solo dancers, but many of them are quite professional," She said. Chiang especially mentioned that she had rarely seen a good male performance as good as in the "Chopstick Zest" dance. She added, "Every actor is very devoted in the 'The Power of Awareness.'"
Chiang said she particularly like the solo erhu performance, "The melody is beautiful, and vividly expresses the mood."
"Michelle Ren's performance in the 'Lady of the Moon' is beautiful, her hand gestures, her movements, she is beautiful, just like from heaven," said Chiang.
"'Victory Drums' is well choreographed. I like it very much as well, the rhythm is just nice. People can easily accept it. It is a pity the performance is too short, it would be more inspiring and exciting if it could last a little bit longer," Chiang said with some regret.
Ms. Chiang is Indonesian-Chinese. She liked to sing when she was young, and received many awards for her outstanding performances. She was granted the opportunity to study at the College of Music at National Taiwan Normal University because of her talent, and later also studied in at Rome National College of Music in Italy. Ms. Chiang has also held a concert at Lincoln Center to promote traditional Chinese vocal music.
Staten Island Chinese Association deputy chair Tan Minyi, who came to the show with Ms. Chiang, also highly praised the performance, and recommended the programs "Nymphs of the Sea," "In the Changbai Mountains," and "Drummers of the Tang Court," among others.
