San Diego Audience Gets a Delightful Introduction to Traditional Chinese Culture (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net) Monica Lafferty, a homemaker, attended the Chinese New Year Spectacular in San Diego. Her first response was, "It was fabulous! Beautiful!" Besides the beautiful performances, Monica greatly appreciated the show's educational value. She said, "I was able to explain more of it (Chinese culture) to the children because of the commentary and because of the book." She said she planned to spread the word about the show. "I'm gonna tell my mom and dad to go see it in San Francisco; they live in San Francisco."

Monica's daughter Julia Lafferty said, "I liked the very first, acrobatic one, the one with the fans ("Nymphs of the Sea")."

Rosemary Spade, a retired homemaker from San Marcos, told the reporter, "The costumes are gorgeous, and the dancers are so graceful! It's a beautiful show! I think anyone would enjoy coming to see it. Its so nice to have you come to California."

Huy Tam, an airline mechanic, and Sandy Lu, were both born in Vietnam, but are Chinese. Huy had never seen a show like this before, but he liked the piece about the temple ("The Fruits of Goodness"). He especially liked the performance in which the traditional Chinese 2-string instrument (Erhu) was played. He said, "I have heard the erhu before, but this was different. It brought me a feeling from the past that is hard to describe." Sandy Lu said, "I liked the music the best."

John Goodman (right)- Roadway Engineering Contractor; Al Bitetti (left) -Roadway Engineering Contractor

Two Roadway Engineers, John Goodman and Al Bitetti, both from San Diego, expressed their enthusiasm for the show. John had been to China seven times and mentioned of his travels, "I have seen a little bit; more than the typical Westerner." He toured the Great Wall, monasteries, and a mall all of jade. His favorite performance was "The Power of Awareness," because, "good triumphed over evil."

The shows cultural aspects are what impressed Al Bitetti, "I got a better sense of the people. They are just like everybody else. Trying to make a living and enjoy music and arts and bring people closer together." He said he learned a few things about Chinese history as well. "Within each dance, there is a little bit of history. Kind of like a story line." Al said he was touched by the songs, "It makes sense what they are saying. The songs are uplifting and make people think."

Maureen Farley (right) -Student of Oriental Medicine, and Garrett Bouma (left) -Stock Broker

A student of Oriental Medicine, Maureen Farley enjoyed the show. She commented, "I know a bit about Chinese culture and the symbolism behind the pieces. I really the liked "Seeking the Tao" and the symbolism of temptation." In summing up the program highlights, she said, "The costumes are beautiful and I enjoyed the multimedia aspect of it."

Garrett Bouma, a stockbroker from San Diego, had "very little" exposure to the Chinese culture before coming to the show. During the intermission he said, "I really did not know what to expect, but I am amazed by it all. All the hard work they have obviously put into it. The talent is extreme!"