VIENNA — The opening of the Divine Performing Arts Chinese Spectacular on Thursday in Vienna brought the audience a hearty helping of traditional Chinese culture.
"Although I'm not Chinese, I thought the show was outstanding," said Richard Lugnar, a wealthy Viennese building contractor, socialite and patron of the arts. This performance Lugnar attended the show with his daughter, Jacqueline.
"The waterfall was best of all," he said, referring to a piece called Water Nymphs.
"My overall impression of the show was that it was excellent," he said, adding that he has a special relationship with Chinese culture.
"It is a pure pleasure to watch everyone running hither and thither, to see the men jump and twirl, the beautiful girls – a real pleasure for the eyes."
Lugnar is perhaps best known internationally for attending the Vienna Opera Ball with top celebrities, including Pamela Anderson, Sophia Loren, Geri Helliwell, Grace Jones, Sarah Ferguson and Paris Hilton.
Waltraud Thomayer, who also attended Thursday's show, said she has been to Hong Kong but has never seen a show like the Spectacular.
"This is the reason why I wanted to see this. I very much liked the historical stories. The Mongolian Bowl dance was also very impressive," said Thomayer during the intermission.
"I actually am very interested in Chinese culture and I think it is great that it can be seen here in Vienna."
According to Guimin Guan, the assistant director of the Divine Performing Arts who is himself a celebrated tenor, it's only fitting that the Spectacular play in Vienna, the "cultural capital of the world."
"We consider it a special honor to perform in Vienna," said Guan.
The Spectacular will play at the Stadthalle again on Friday in honor of the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Rat. It will play in Bratislava on Sunday, carrying on to Prague for more shows next week. A total of 35 shows will be seen in 14 European countries.
For information about upcoming Divine Performing Arts shows, please visit: www.DivinePerformingArts.org/sy/ .
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Chinese Spectacular. For our complete Spectacular coverage go to http://en.epochtimes.com/features/dpa2008/
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