The audience oohed and aahed during the Divine Performing Arts Chinese New Year Spectacular's successful opening night at the San Francisco Orpheum Theatre.
Meave Gallagher, a web magazine assistant editor, and her husband Joel, a software engineer, were glad they came to the show.
Meave said with delight, "I visited the website and the show looked beautiful, but it far exceeded my expectations. It was very impressive! I've seen ballet before, and this is obviously different than western ballet. This was amazing; I really enjoyed the uniqueness of Chinese dance."
The San Francisco couple mentioned that they never thought that Chinese dance was so dynamic.
Joel Gallagher, was impressed by the acrobatics and found the massive drumming of the finale "pretty incredible," while Meave liked the Mongolian Bowl Dance.
She said, "I was impressed that they were able to be so graceful and they could keep their balance that way. It must have taken a lot of training and work, but it looked so beautiful and effortless, it was impressive."
Angela Stoffregen, a librarian, and Andy Maya, a chemist, crossed the Bay Bridge from Albany to watch the show.
They were drawn to the show by Stoffregen's interest in Chinese culture that started when she spent a semester studying in China.
Maya said, "The show was fantastic—beautiful! I enjoyed the dancing and the drumming, the singing specially."
Stoffregen said, "I liked that there was a variety of different aspects of Chinese culture and history, combining dancing and singing, it was very interesting and kept us engaged."
"And learning about Falun Gong," Maya added.
They both enjoyed the graceful dancing and the drumming that vibrated in their chests.
Maya added, "and the tenor, he was so powerful, his voice was ringing in your head."
"I'll recommend the show to my friends, if it comes back I will come back again," said Maya.
Stoffregen said, "It was also a good way to get in the spirit of the Chinese New Year coming up."
The Chinese New Year Spectacular continues at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco through January 26 with performances at 8:00 p.m. on Jan. 24, and 2:00 pm and 8:00 pm on Jan. 25-26.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Divine Performing Arts performances. For dates and times of their world tour visit: http://www.divineperformingarts.com/sy/ticket_info.
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