Alberta will soon play host to a traditional Chinese culture performance group that has attracted attention and admiration around the world.
The Divine Performing Arts Chinese Spectacular, scheduled to come to Alberta in mid-May, has been touring since its New Year's launch in Vancouver at the beginning of the year. The show returns to Canada on May 14-16 to wrap up with performances in Calgary and Edmonton.
In its most recent performances in Taiwan and Korea the show was praised by audiences as a renaissance in traditional Chinese culture. Much of the show presents myths and legends from ancient China, portrayed through Chinese ballet and masterfully designed and colorful costumes and stage decorations. Audience members in Taiwan have praised the performance as representing the heart of Chinese culture, and many viewers have been moved to tears.
The show is presented by New York-based New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV), the world's largest, independent, non-profit, Chinese-language television network established by overseas Chinese. In some countries the network has faced an uphill battle just to stage its show.
In April, Divine Performing Arts played to sold-out crowds in Korea after NTDTV won a court battle with the Seoul Convention and Exhibition Center. The convention center had canceled NTDTV's booking allegedly because of pressure on the Korean government from the Chinese communist regime. Although the theater denied the cancellation was due to political pressure, media in Korea strongly criticized their government for bending to the Chinese regime's will. NTDTV has been a sharp critic of the Chinese regime and even broadcasts its programs via satellite into China where the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) controls all media, including the Internet.
At a press conference in Seoul, tenor Guan Guimin, one of the show's performers, said the Chinese regime does not want to see NTDTV promoting traditional Chinese culture. Since taking power 50 years ago the CCP has harshly suppressed Chinese traditions and deep-rooted religions like Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism. According to Amnesty International and other human rights groups, Christians, Uighur Muslims, and Falun Gong practitioners are still persecuted in China today.
Despite the challenges and the interference by the Chinese regime, the show has gone on and is receiving a warm welcome in Alberta. Calgary mayor Dave Bronconnier said in a message to NTDTV, "I am confident that this event will be one to remember."
Ottawa mayor Larry O'brien, who saw the show in January, said: "I've been to China-Beijing, but I've never been treated to this level of sophisticated entertainment."
According to the show's promoters, the choreographers of the Divine Performing Arts capture the essence of China's traditional culture, a culture that seeks to align human activity and thought with that of a greater spiritual presence or order, sometimes called the "Dao" (way) or "Fa" (law). In ancient China this applied to carpentry, architecture, martial arts, poetry, painting and even military strategy.
Since the beginning of this year, the Divine Performing Arts Chinese Spectacular (previously called Chinese New Year Spectacular) has put on nearly 80 shows in over 30 major cities around the world including Berlin, New York, Osaka, Ottawa, Paris, Sydney, Taipei, and Toronto, to name a few.
Calgary will have two shows at the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium on May 14 and 15 at 8 pm, and Edmonton will host the show on May 16 at 7:30 pm at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.
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