New York Audience: The Splendor Is "Pageantry and Elegance"

(Clearwisdom.net) Anecia, a diplomat from the Caribbean, said, "I especially like the drums. I am from the Caribbean where we play the pan, and I am of African heritage where drums are an essential musical instrument, so I really like the big drums and the effect they had." She went on to say, "The performances were great. Very beautiful and inspiring overall."

Realtor from Korea Sahng, when asked if he thought Koreans would like the show, responded with a resounding, "Yes, definitely! They would like it." He said, "The (Korean) dance was good, it looked good." Sahng explained, "Koreans have a lot of Daoism in their culture. It came from China when Daoism prospered there. Those traditions still exist in Korea today." He particularly liked the story about the Daoist called, "The Vanished Dream," because he said, "Life is just like that, a dream."

"Pageantry and elegance" was how Bob from Manhattan described his impression of the show at Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday night, February 6. Bob explained, "I liked the theatrical stuff the best. I just liked the sincerity. It just made me think the Chinese culture here is very broad based, so it can support real authentic traditional Chinese theater. I was expecting more of a shallow representation. But this show felt very rich and alive. It felt alive. And then I realized it never really died. These traditions have been around for thousands of years and we are still seeing it tonight and it is still fresh. That was really nice."

What did Bob mean by a more shallow presentation? "More commercial. Here we are in New York, far away from China, and I thought it would be more suited to Americans. Sometimes when there are foreign programs here in New York, they are very Americanized. So I was expecting an Americanized representation of Chinese theater and dance, but it feels really authentic and alive! The show is fantastic."

First grader Lola was clear about how she felt about the show, "It was very, very good. I liked the one when the people were playing the drums best and I liked it best because the drum sound was very good. The dancing was very good. My second favorite was the water show ('Nymphs of the Sea')." Lola's father Brian, a professor of business, liked "the part where they made the waves with their scarves."