And finally… He’s a man that’s seen literally thousands of shows on countless stages. But Broadway critic Richard Connema still called the Chinese New Year spectacular a quote, “mind-blowing” experience.
Richard Connema, critic for Talkin’ Broadway and seasoned theater patron has the highest praise for Divine Performing Arts’ Chinese New Year Spectacular in San Francisco.
[Richard Connema, Broadway Critic]:
“I probably have reviewed over 3 to 4 thousand shows since 1942. A lot of reviewers use stars, you know, 1 star, 2 stars, 3 stars, 4 stars, 5 stars… I will give this production 5 stars. That’s the top,” he said.
[Richard Connema, Broadway Critic]:
“The dancers were absolutely fantastic … I found out that there was not only dancing in this but heart. You could feel that coming even from where I was sitting … Just a beautiful production. I found that those backdrop scenes and the way it was projected and the way it comes out is absolutely fantastic.
[Richard Connema, Broadway Critic]:
“I’ve never seen anything like that. I’ve seen enough Broadway shows that still cannot compare to what I saw tonight The best word to use was “mind blowing”. And I watched around the audience and they all were so involved with everything going on.
[Richard Connema, Broadway Critic]:
“There’s movement between everything, even the narrators coming up, giving you a little insight and they move right into a dance… perfect!”
Divine Performing Arts attract many families who want their children to learn more about Chinese culture.
The Gammarinos in Philadelphia love the arts and really enjoyed the show on Saturday.
[Steve Gammarino, Musician]:
The music was fantastic, the musicians were wonderful. The dancing and acrobatics were incredible. So I couldnt say a bad thing about it
[Carol Gammarino, Former Performer]:
It was exciting, the costumes were wonderful.Their interpretations, the expressions, it was justit was top notch.
[Stephanie Gammarino, Daughter]:
It was really fun. I loved all the costumes. And the performance was awesome.
In never knew how diverse Chinese culture was within itself. It was really awesome to learn so much about it.
New Tang Dynasty Televisions first annual Chinese International Piano Competition came to its conclusion on Sunday, as after three days of competition the last 15 finalists came down to only a handful of winners for the top awards and the two top winners were both young musicians with brilliant futures ahead of them.
Nimble fingers fall upon the keys, tiny felt-covered hammers hit steel strings, and the sounds of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Chopin thunder forth from the stage.
After a long day of tough competition, there came a group performance where all 15 finalists united to celebrate their love of piano followed by the long-awaited awards ceremony.
The bronze award winners were Weiwen Ma and Wei Chen, each of whom received $1,000 dollars.
The silver award, and $3,000 dollars went to Na Lian, originally from Mainland China. She has participated in numerous competitions and attended music schools in China, Russia, and the United States.
Na Lian is currently a student at the New York based Feitian Academy of the Arts a school focused on the revival of classical Chinese art forms.
From Journey To the East program, NTDTV, on Youtube-
Painter Zhang Cui Ying, has received numerous prizes and awards. Zhang’s painting Before Winter Sets In was awarded second place in the 1986 “National Poetry Based Painting Competition” organised by the “Literature and Painting Magazine”. The Artist painted a lady sitting next to the window in deep thought. When Zhang went to pick up the prize, everyone was shocked, they had expected the artist to be an old man and never guessed it would be a girl in her twenties!
Zhang Cui Ying’s works can be seen published in newspapers and magazines in China and overseas and are also part of the collection in the book “Shanghai’s Talented Middle Age and Youth Painters and Calligraphers”.
Zhang Cui Ying’s One Hundred Koalas is not only a mascot but a treasure to Australia; lively, agile, natural and innocent. This painting, over 5 meters long, has received an Award of Excellence in the Chinese Wash Paintings for the Gold Awards category of the First Asia and the Pacific Competition.
From NTDTV video on Youtube, of Shen Yun Performance, October 2006, by Qi XiaoChun-
Sometimes known in the West as the “Chinese violin” or “Chinese two-string fiddle,” Erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles and large orchestras.
The Erhu consists of a long vertical stick-like neck, at the top of which are two large tuning pegs, and at the bottom is a small resonator body (sound box) which is covered with python skin on the front (playing) end. Two strings are attached from the pegs to the base, and a small loop of string (qian jin) placed around the neck and strings acting as a nut pulls the strings towards the skin, holding a small wooden bridge in place. (wikipedia)
You may wondering how good is the biggest Chinese culture event– 2008 global tour show of Divine Performing Arts Chinese Spectacular, the following video is one of the references you must to have a look– it’s the feedback from audience after the show of Holiday Wonders in New York from Dec. 18~26, 2007, which was also performed by the Divine Performing Arts Company.
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