New York: Splendor Appeals to All Walks of Life

(Clearwisdom.net) The Divine Performing Arts touring company and Divine Performing Arts of New York jointly presented the third performance of the Chinese New Year Splendor at Radio City Music Hall on February 1, 2008. The audience continuously responded with warm and positive feedback.

Nury, an insurance agent from Long Island, smiled saying, "It's wonderful! I loved it. Everything was great--the music, the singers, the choreography, the costumes."

Madeleine, who works at the Human Resources Department at a Target store said, "I loved it! I enjoyed it very much. The music and the colors were great. The dancing was very graceful, also. I especially liked that they explained a lot of things. I'm going to go home and look up the Tang dynasty."

Madeleine's husband, a restaurant owner said, "It's very, very lovely." Madeleine's friend Gino did not withhold his admiration, "The show was wonderful, the colors are crazy. I had no idea colors like that existed. I was impressed!"

Laurence Arabien, an actress and singer who works at HB Studio shared her professional opinions, "I thought it was wonderful, magnificent, breathtaking, and visually appealing." She also inquired further about Falun Gong and the ongoing persecution in China.

Adding to her previous comments, she said, "The drums were incredible. The fans, the waterfall...so much stands out in my mind. It's like watching a living painting. Excellent, excellent! Quite spectacular. I just couldn't wait for everything to unfold, because each one was so different from the others, it was like watching the culture unfold. It's extremely well done."

Jagida, an elementary school administrator living in New York, originally from Sri Lanka, gave high praise to the show. Meanwhile, his wife Seth, a schoolteacher, said that the show was "fantastic" because, "It gives a glimpse of the country. The whole performance was very artistic and disciplined. They are so talented. [Some of the dances were] similar to the Buddhist dance in our country, as Asian cultures are similar."

Marion, who is currently taking ballet classes said, "[The show is] very colorful, very informative, and beautiful to watch. The singers didn't even need a microphone, as they had such big voices. It was spectacular, really interesting. It's wonderful that you [Falun Gong] are fighting for your freedom, a sense of yourself."

A woman who has taught dance for more than 30 years readily shared her thoughts: "The precision, the professional standard was gorgeous. I'm actually impressed with the nuance of the stories and the variety; the ability to go into nuance as opposed to just extravaganza, which is easy. I also liked the dialog between the hosts, which let us know what's going on and appeals to people of different ages in different ways. I liked the dance, "Water Sleeves," and the drumming was fantastic, tremendous. The drummers were so full of life and exuberance. I appreciate that it brings concepts of nature [into the performance]. It's an evolving art form with the fusion of western opera and Chinese lyrics. [Moreover], the synchronization during the group dances was unbelievable!

Ms. Zhou, who immigrated to the US from Taiwan, drove 11 hours to watch the Splendor. She could hardly contain her excitement, saying, "So, so fabulous! I can understand it, I felt as if I returned to the ancient times. The show is so kind and truthful. I like 'The Power of Awareness', because it showed Falun Gong practitioners gently awakening us. The backdrop was great and the theme was great. The backdrop looks so real! It defies belief."

The Chinese New Year Splendor will present more shows through February 9, 2008. The two groups of Divine Performing Arts will then separate and tour more than sixty cities in Europe, Asia and Australia, and perform more than two hundred shows. More than six hundred thousand people will have the opportunity to see the show live.