The Denver Post

"Chinese New Year Spectacular" is an international touring show that attempts to present a vivid, authentic portrait of Chinese arts unspoiled by modern propaganda. The colorful program plays the Buell Theatre tonight and Saturday. ("Chinese New Year Spectacular")

It is a sad incongruity that a show celebrating a deep artistic history cannot be performed in the very country that gave birth to it.

What tiny backwater is this, you might ask?

Try China, the world's most populous country. The government has actively prevented a stage show -- one seen worldwide by hundreds of thousands and offering a look at the country's 5,000-year-old culture -- from playing there because it is viewed as a threat to the status quo.

"Since the Communist Party rose in power and took over China, so much of the culture has been destroyed," said Vina Lee, an award-winning artist who trained at the prestigious Beijing Academy of Dance. "Many younger Chinese have no idea what Chinese culture is."

To combat this erosion of tradition, Lee joined the "Chinese New Year Spectacular," an international touring show that attempts to present a vivid, authentic portrait of Chinese arts unspoiled by modern propaganda. The colorful program, which features 60 dancers, singers and musicians, plays the Buell Theatre tonight and Saturday.

"The current name of (the show) was from last year," Lee said of the 4-year-old "Spectacular." "Our idea was to make a show not just for the moment but to give people a sense of why we celebrate this tradition of the Chinese New Year, and what's precious about Chinese culture. We want to revive the culture that's been damaged in the past decades."

When communism came to China in 1949, a long and brutal cultural purge followed. Since that time, expressions of traditional Chinese culture have been actively suppressed.

"Chinese New Year Spectacular," a show that isn't shy about its politics, purports to be the antidote. It revels in long-standing myths and legends through extraordinary costumes and vigorous physicality designed to appeal to diverse audiences (both English and Chinese speakers guide the show from the stage).

New York-based New Tang Dynasty TV backs the program, which has been a frequent target of criticism by the Chinese government. Still, 200,000 people in 31 cities saw it last year, and NTDTV plans to introduce the show to twice that number in 2008.

"It was a huge success last year and was featured in all the major theaters in Paris, Berlin, London and New York," said Erping Zhang, an adviser to the show. "You have to have a certain standard, a certain level of quality for art history to be put on these prestigious stages."

Zhang has championed Chinese cultural freedom to the U.S. Congress, European Parliament and various international bodies as director of the New York-based Association for Asian Research. His allegiance to the Falun Gong spiritual discipline, which the Chinese government has tried to dismantle over the past decade, also places him at odds with communist leadership.

"Today most shows in China combine Western and Chinese forms and instruments, and these art forms serve a political purpose," Zhang said. "The communist ideology came to China as an import, and in order to have a successful transplant they had to suppress the traditional forms."

An exploding economy juiced by globalization is clashing with the culture of censorship, Zhang asserted, and the international scrutiny of the Summer Olympics in Beijing in August will only accelerate it.

Zhang remembers his time in China's Red Guard during the Cultural Revolution, hearing people attempt to discredit philosophers like Confucius.

"I learned more about Confucius in the United States than in China," Zhang said. "It's mind-boggling to see a peaceful, scholarly sage denounced for political purposes."

("Chinese New Year Spectacular")

Peace is an explicit message of "Chinese New Year Spectacular," whether communicated through lilting, meditative music or delicate movements based on extensive historical research.

"We're not doing the Royal Court Dance," said choreographer Lee, who has performed in more than 100 of the shows. "It's a very active show that involves lots of traditional technique, from ballet to turns and tumbling."

None of the performers in "Chinese New Year Spectacular" live in China, but Zhang and Lee said their hearts remain with friends and loved ones still suffering under repression there.

"The Chinese New Year is a time for families to meet and celebrate together," Zhang said of the holiday, which officially begins on Feb. 7. "But they're also members of society who are not able to join their loved ones because of human rights abuses and persecution."

Zhang said the reaction from audiences has been overwhelmingly positive, with many Chinese audience members brought to tears afterward.

"It's an eye-opener not only for Westerners but also for Chinese ourselves to look at our history and reflect on what's going on in China now," he said.

Cultural show. Temple Buell Theatre, 1031 13th St. Tonight-Saturday. 8 p.m. tonight; 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday. $25-$75. 866-464-2626 or TicketsWest.com

http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_7925231