Audiences Cheer Berlin Spectacular

By Wu Jingsi and De Xiang, Minghui reporters in Berlin

After causing a stir in Paris, New Tang Dynasty Television's Chinese New Year Spectacular opened in Berlin on February 27, 2007 at the historic International Congress Centrum. Nearly 3,000 Berliners attended the inaugural performance and responded enthusiastically from the opening curtain to the thunderous finale.

As the curtain slowly rose at 8:00 PM, revealing the sight of a heavenly scene for the performance "Creation," the audience spontaneously burst into applause. That response set the stage for many of the performances that followed, most of which also were greeted with heartfelt applause as soon as they began. The audience was especially enchanted when the "Ladies of the Manchu Court" stepped out on stage with their elegant and graceful movements.

As the Spectacular ended with the spirited, rhythmic dance "Resounding Drums," the entire audience gave a long and enthusiastic standing ovation and they were reluctant to leave. Chinese and German audience members raved about the heavenly scenes and magnificent colors, spectacular background, and the performers' high artistic skills. They thanked NTDTV for bringing such an authentic traditional Chinese cultural performance to their city.

President of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Poettering is also a German, and he wished the Spectacular's Global Tour success through NTDTV days ago.

Organizers of the Chinese New Year Spectacular held a post-performance reception for nearly a hundred invited guests, including representatives from the diplomatic corps, the media, businesses, cultural organizations, and human rights organizations. In his remarks at the reception, Michael Konken, president of the German Federation of Journalists said that protecting freedom of press is the responsibility of those working in the media.

European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering had previously wished the Spectacular's Global Tour success.

Mr. Wunderlich of the Christian Social Democratic Party of Germany said his favorite program was the finale, "What I appreciated the most was the final dance performance with the drums--very exciting."

"The colors were rich and splendid, the music was fluent and in harmony with an Oriental ambiance, the programming was relaxed but richly varied, the solos, dances, drumming......everything," he enthused.

General manager of Berlin TV Dr. Tressler said that he has not expected the show to be so wonderful.

Berlin TV general manager Dr. Tressler said in an interview with reporters that the standard of the show exceeded his expectations. He had never expected the show to be so brilliant, because he had not had much understanding of authentic traditional culture before, and he came only out of curiosity.

Dr. Tressler said that while he enjoyed each program, he was most impressed with the Erhu solo performed by Qi Xiaochu. He found her performance superb and expressed amazement with how such a simple musical instrument could burst forth with so much vitality.

The complete success of the first performance of the NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular in Germany

Britpress reporter Michael Kaiser, who is stationed in Germany, told Clearwisdom.net that he liked the Spectacular very much. He thought it was multiple-faceted and that it depicted the various aspects of traditional Chinese culture with which he was familiar. He thought the Spectacular deserved to be widely recommended so that as many people as possible would see the show.

"The content of the show was rich and wonderful, and the costumes were so beautiful and splendid," Mr. Kaiser asserted. He was could not decide which program he liked the most, but he was delighted with the flow between programs which he found well-paced and skillfully done. "If there is a show next year, I will come. This is a show worthy of recommendation."

Britpress covers entertainment news and often introduces many of the world's outstanding performances to its readers. Mr. Kaiser said he hoped that such a show would to come to the UK, opening the eyes of picky London audiences.

A teacher from the German Goethe Institute named Mrs. Kuzdas attended the Spectacular with her husband. Mr. Kuzdas donned Chinese-style attire to attend the performance. He said that the dancers were in harmony with the content of the dances and he felt they liked very much what they wanted to express. Moreover, he thought the stage background was very beautiful--"a perfect combination with modern technology, very special!"

Mrs. Kuzdas found the show very impressive and successful in three aspects: the rich content, beautiful costumes, and appealing music. "The integration of the three aspects was very rare and beautiful," she offered.

Zhong Weguang a well-known Chinese scientific philosopher and sociologist who lives in Germany, said that the emergence of the NTDTV Spectacular helps overseas Chinese who want to pursue freedom and break away from the control of the Chinese Communist Party to have a show of their own. He traveled several kilometers to see the Spectacular because he felt that Chinese people indeed should have a genuine outlet to express traditional culture. Though he is not a Falun Gong practitioner, Mr. Zhong appreciated the show’s performances that recognized their struggle to pursue their beliefs in China.

A German reporter, Sylvia, expressed great interest in the history of the development of NTDTV after watching the first show in Berlin. She felt that the show was not only enjoyable to hear and see but also had profound spiritual connotations.

A retiree from Berlin happened to get a newspaper introducing the NTDTV Spectacular two days before the performance and immediately decided to purchase a ticket. She was very pleased with NTDTV's courage in displaying traditional values and eternal truths. She encouraged NTDTV to remain steadfast along its path and to host another show next year. "Many performances in Berlin aim at attracting tourists and [are] for business interests,” she said. “We need NTDTV to bring people content on values, which is more important.”

Vocalist Yang Jiansheng, who performed a solo in the Spectacular, is a German resident. The outstanding alto sang "Tiananmen Square, Please Tell Me" in the first show. She said that Germany is like her second home and that this time coming to Germany felt like a real homecoming. Ms. Yang feels that artists should not shy away from telling the truth and hoped that her performance would help more people learn about the true situation in China.

Mr. Hsie Chi-wei, the Taiwanese representative in Germany, expressed a unique viewpoint of the show that he explained in three points. The first was appreciation of the high artistic content, the second was the philosophy relayed through artistic expression, and the third was that the performances delivered information about the political reality in Mainland China. The aspects were so skillfully combined that he believed the show successfully conveyed the message the NTDTV wanted to share.

Hsie Chi-wei thought that NTDTV successfully enabled the audience to enjoy the two-hour show in a way that combined art, philosophy, and political reality. "It is a display of healthy and bright Chinese culture." He felt the show was very successful and was confident that the next day’s performance would be even more stirring and magnificent. Noting that the first day was almost a full house, his friend said that there would be even more audience members the next day. "On behalf of Taiwan, this is the best gift of the boar for our overseas Chinese," he exclaimed.