This winter, an Atlanta man is involved in bringing a unique and beautiful theatrical production to the Cobb Energy Centre.
Donglei Chen has been working with the Spectacular for nearly four years. "I first heard of it in the year 2004, the year it was introduced by NTDTV" (New Tang Dynasty Television). He was the "talent wrangler" for shows in New York City. He guided the performers to the right spot at the right time to get on stage.
"This year I'm the coordinator for this event in Atlanta." He has visited sponsors, spoken to groups, appeared on talk shows and worked tirelessly to plan and promote the Atlanta shows. In 2007 the Spectacular nearly filled the Civic Center, an enormous space in midtown. In 2008 there will be two shows at the new, lavish Cobb Energy Centre, at 7:30pm on Friday and Saturday, January 4th and 5th. The show will travel around the country and the world, visiting Philadelphia, New York, Boston, San Francisco, Montreal, Tokyo, Paris, London and more.
People should see it because "the show is all about traditional Chinese culture—the genuine Chinese dance and music—it's hard to see even in China," said Chen. This year's production is new, with music composed for the show, new choreography, and seemingly three dimensional digital backgrounds in the style of Chinese painting.
The Chinese New Year Spectacular features Chinese dance, music and singing, and is hosted bilingually in Chinese and English. The programming draws on the deep inner expression of Chinese classical dance. It also uses a combination of background scenery, costumes, and choreography to express ancient Chinese virtues of truthfulness, compassion, and pure beauty.
"It's not just for entertainment" said Chen. "It's also for people to get what is the real Chinese culture."
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