'I loved the show and I would love to come again next year!' (The Epoch Times)

NEWARK, N.J.--Deputy Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly, Upendra J. Chivukula, was one of the dignitaries attending Monday's Chinese New Year Spectacular 2009 World Tour at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark.

During the intermission, Mr. Chivukula described his reaction to the show thus far. "This is magnificent--the colors, the scenery, the choreography and the photography [digital backdrops] is outstanding!"

"And so educational. I learned so much about the 5000-year-old Chinese culture--and how the whole thing happened. It was very nicely explained."

"The culture is very rich and there is so much we and the world can learn from that. The Buddha symbolizes peace and talking about how life is eternal and is a gift from God and so we have to cherish it and also try to co-exist and trying to help each other out. In terms of someone who is not spiritual, I think we are able to understand [spirituality] through the show. Especially in the dance about the flower that blooms only once every 3000 years."

The dance to which Mr. Chivukula refers is called "The Udumbara's Bloom." An ancient Buddhist legend tells about this miniature flower and how it only blooms once every 3000 years. Its blossoming tells of the arrival on earth of a great sage or enlightened one. The choreography of this exquisite dance takes inspiration from the Buddhist Dunhuan caves of Western China as well as Indian dance in its display of reverent beauty. The Udumbara flower has been seen recently in many parts of the world.

"The dances are choreographed to show the Buddhist philosophy and they have done a phenomenal job. So beautiful!"

Mr. Chivukula was also very impressed by the vocalists. "The soprano and the tenor were just fantastic!"

The soloists have years of experience and training in the finest musical academies in Mainland China. One of the vocalists in the show, Ms. Yang said that her inspiration for some of her songs comes from her spiritual beliefs. She says that her practice of spiritual and physical cultivation [Falun Dafa] has enlightened her and given her a chance to understand the true meaning of life and the nature of the universe. Ms. Yang said in a previous interview, "The music is not merely notes strung together to make melodies, but worlds she can touch, feel and live in." When she sings she feels like "she's revealing to the audience worlds known only by divine beings, spectacular worlds full of wondrous grandeur."

Mr. Chivukua also learned a lot from the dance "The Legend of the Brush." This piece is set in the early years of Chinese antiquity where, deep in the mountains, a group of scholars labor and toil to carve records upon bamboo scrolls. The early Chinese believed that, not only was humanity created by gods, but also that tools and other inventions were given to them by deities from heaven, when the time was right. In this soul-stirring dance-drama, a Taoist comes down from the heavens to deliver the brush. "I think in terms of the writing and how it started with the chiseling of the bamboo and how we developed to write with a pen--that was phenomenal yeah--very interesting, I learned a lot about that."

Mr. Chivukua left with these words: "I loved the show and I would love to come again next year!"