“[The costume designers] did a fabulous job in terms of colour. The colours were glamorous and theatrical and intense.

“What I’m also impressed by with the costumes is the choice of fabrics. The fabrics moved well—they extended the motion of the legs and extended the motion of the arms. 

“The costumes were beautiful. The communist one was threatening and negative of course, but the men looked heroic and the women looked beautiful and vulnerable but strong at the same time. It was good.“

“The sense of the ancient world and the modern world overlapping—that had value and I thought it was a good theatre [performance].

“What I enjoyed the most was just the physical dancing, the colours, the spectacle, the romance. There was a lot of romance there, and not just romance between men and women, but the romance of life.”

“It was beautiful. The dancers are phenomenally well trained. They are athletic. The coordination, the timing, was flawless. The special effects were wonderful. Certainly, because of the special effects, there were a lot of surrealistic sort of things you would draw into the stage itself. The stage came into the audience on occasion, which was what good theatre should do.” 

“[The erhu soloist] was spectacular, absolutely spectacular. And not to diminish the quality of the dancing, but she was something that I think I will truly remember. 

“The potential in that instrument with two strings, that was remarkable. That was educational for me because I had no idea that a simple wooden box with two strings could make that variety of sounds, and be soulful and be joyful within seconds. So to me, it was about the instrument but it was also about her skill. ... It was a very sensitive performance.”