Chinese New Year Spectacular Gains Admiration from the West

By Kati Turcu/Epoch Times Australia Staff
March 23, 2007

Principal dancer and choreographer Michelle Ren performs in "Resounding Drums."

As the audience exited the Regent Theatre on a hot and steamy autumn day in Melbourne, it was immediately obvious that the people who attended the Chinese New Year Spectacular, were from extremely diverse cultural backgrounds.

Many buses of school groups, spectators from both East and West, elderly people and young adults were all brought together for the same purpose—to share and enjoy a show rich with historical and spiritual meaning.

Many Westerners aware of various aspects of Chinese folklore still found plenty of surprises.

Romanian-born dentist, Mihai Rosca said: "I'm fascinated by the erhu (Chinese violin). It's quite different from the violin that is played in Romania. There was a lot of color, which is great, very abundant color and the silk [costumes]. It's making a bridge between Asian and European culture."

Contrasting the traditional dance performances were the singers who sang Chinese compositions in Western operatic style.

Soprano Bai Xue, who won the prestigious "China's National Excellent Performer Award" in 1988, has gained recognition with the expressive quality of her voice in bel canto technique.

With a vocal agility that enables her to perform a wide range of music, from areas of the western classic-romantic tradition to Chinese folksongs, she has performed in major productions in Europe, Australia and across North America.

Ms Bai is visiting Australia for the second time and back due to popular demand after performing one show in Sydney in 2006.

Former Mayor of Chelsea Les Williams and his wife Nora found the Chinese language and singing very delightful. He confided that although they are not able to understand Mandarin or Cantonese, they recently had a New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV) Satellite dish installed. They were looking forward to watching the programs. Although the English programming is ever increasing on NTDTV, the majority of the shows are in Chinese.

Les and Nora Williams are oriental enthusiasts and NTDTV satellite subscribers. (The Epoch Times)

Mr Williams admires the oriental culture, "Very interesting, very colorful. The Chinese language is very pretty. Really nice indeed. I loved the lady that was singing so beautifully, the singers were marvelous. The pianist was most appropriate and I enjoyed it thoroughly. I thought it was amazing to see so many kids, and wondered where did they all come from? Because they were enjoying it, they seemed to be right with the show all the way through."

Westerners who have a better knowledge of Chinese tradition also appreciated the chance to deepen their understanding.

A young dance teacher, Amy Thomas from Westmeadows attended the show with a group of young dancers and other dance teachers. Ms Thomas said "We've been to Singapore before, so we've all had a lot to do with the Chinese ballet side of things. We've had quite a lot of experience with the traditional side of Chinese dance, and it's lovely."

"I think probably what's good about all Chinese dance is that it's all story telling, it's very historical and goes back to their culture which is thousands and thousands of years old," she added. "So they've already got a head start on anything European or anything… yes a beautiful way to bring a message to mankind through song and dance…yes, that's what it's all about."

The Divine Performing Arts group serves as the artistic force behind New Tang Dynasty Television's Holiday Wonders and Chinese New Year Spectacular shows each year. Its mission is to rediscover the essence of true, traditional culture and to bring arts to the world by celebrating human dignity and positive values. It thus produces and performs works that centre on classical themes and divinely-inspired cultural traditions. The group's performances aim to provide an experience that consummates beauty and goodness