Many of the tributes paid to New Tang Dynasty's (NTDTV) Chinese New Year Spectacular have centred on the visual splendour of the show - the colour and beauty of the costumes, and the grace and precision of the dancing. As the internationally renowned show has made its way through Australia's major cities however, some have gained more from the experience, commenting that they believed it was working on a much deeper level.
Arts Editor of the Canberra Times, Helen Musa, said on one level "how could you go past the costumes and the dancing—they were absolutely fantastic and … easy to understand".
On the other hand, Ms Musa said the show was working on a number of different levels "not just the eyes, not just the ears but the heart and soul".
Julie Knox, who had driven from Armidale, some 500 kilometres north of Sydney to see the show, said she had been amazed at the visual impact of the Spectacular, "the purity of the colour" particularly. However, it was not just the surface level that was appealing, Ms Knox said, but an underlying sense of pattern and unity.
The hand movements for example were not so much about the intricacies of the hand, but more about the patterns of energy that the dancers were creating, she said.
It was also not as much about individual dancers in the many wonderful dance sequences but rather the group as a whole which seemed "to work as one to form a pattern" she explained.
Ms Knox, who has spent many years working with the Rudolph Steiner school in Armidale, said some of the sequences reminded her of movements in traditional dances of other cultures, particularly Indian and Irish. This, she said, reflected something fundamental running through the show like a "common connection".
In summing up the Spectacular after its premier night at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney on March 29, Ms Knox said the words that came to mind were "uncluttered" and 'peaceful", but added that she expected it would not finish there.
"I think this sort of show works from within," she said "at first it is about the visuals and the surface layer, and over time other things will surface as they are transformed on deeper levels."
The Epoch Times is proud to join with New Tang Dynasty TV and Sound of Hope Radio in co-sponsoring NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular ( http://shows.ntdtv.com. )
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