On the 24th of February, the NTDTV Chinese New Year Spectacular made its debut at Congress Palace in Paris. The theatre was completely packed for the two shows. The Spectacular presented an audience of over seven thousand with pure and genuine Chinese culture and art. In turn, the audience expressed their compliment and appreciation with strong applause, unremitting enthusiasm and even tears.
Famous as the world’s capital of Arts, Paris keeps the most magnificent and beautiful artworks of mankind in places such as the Louvre and the Versailles Palace. The people of Paris have a unique and deep enthusiasm for culture and the arts. Before the start of the show, the President of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Poettering wished for the success of the show. Over ten French MPs and former Ministers wished success to the NTDTV Chinese New Year Spectacular in Paris and sent their Chinese New Year greetings through the Spectacular and NTDTV.
The two shows in Paris, with the dances of the Divine Beauty Art Group, songs from well-known singers, profound significance, colourful costumes, a delicate backdrop and heavenly music, brought their audience into a land of genuine human culture, a culture passed down from Gods, and engendered a profound resonance in the hearts of the audience.
Reproduction of the Essence of Human Culture
As the stage curtain gradually withdrew, as soon as the opening scene of the dance Creation appeared the audience replied with warm applause. Benevolent chief Buddha led other gods and Buddhas down to the human world in order to create a beautiful future for the sentient beings of the cosmos. When the scene changed to the magnificent Daming Palace and prosperous Tang Dynasty, the applause started for the second time. When the dance finished and the curtain was gradually closed, long-lasting applause started for the third time. The audience was deeply impressed with the reproduction of the glory of the heavenly kingdom and the Tang dynasty.
MP Patricia Schillinager from Rhine Province had a very good impression of the show. She said she liked the vivid colours and the show gave people a chance to know Chinese history. She felt that every performance was good and it was hard to say which one was better. The music, the narration and the performers were all good. They discovered the traditional values of China in the show and the most important thing was the history.
A retail store manager called Zhou Taibao came to the show with his wife. Zhou said the principles of Falun Gong - Truthfulness Compassion and Tolerance - are Chinese culture. Truthfulness is the pursuit of Truth not falsehood. Compassion is to spread the kindness to the world, not to keep it to oneself. Tolerance is to tolerate hardship temporarily while getting the reputation of generations. That accords with a righteous way.
Zhou has a good knowledge of literature and he understood the content of the dances. He said, “For the whole show, many performers are talented and every one of them displayed professional skills. The costumes were very good and they were the genuine Tang costumes. The Tang Dynasty is the peak of Chinese history. The theatre is very good too.” He thought the show promoted the essence of Chinese culture and awakened people’s kindness.
Theatre fully packed and tickets hard to obtain
The former director of Radio France International Chinese programmes and veteran media worker Wu Baozhang was interviewed during the break time. He said, “The show is very pure and elegant. The stage-craft is intensively inspiring. The theme, the directing, the use of sounds and lights, and the humour of the presenters all reached a high degree of professional proficiency. Just before I entered the theatre, I was stopped three times by some people I do not know and they asked if I had any spare tickets.”
Wu also expressed his gratitude to NTDTV and Falun Gong practitioners on their role as the pioneer of the renaissance of Chinese culture in the 21st century. He said, “I would like to express my devout gratitude and ardent congratulations to NTDTV and Falun Gong practitioners. They have become the pioneers of the renaissance of the Chinese culture in the 21st century. Their year-after-year effort to promote the Chinese culture and to rectify the root of the culture will forever be remembered by the world’s people.”
World class performance
After the NTDTV Chinese New Year Spectacular overwhelmed New York with its genuine Chinese culture without Communist Party culture, it won success in France too. Among the audience were bosses from television stations, actors and actresses. They were moved by the vigour and significance of the show and Paris was enchanted by the show.
The representative of Taiwan in France Lü Qinglong said the show had successfully and naturally sent a message that many people could not re-unite with their family due to various reasons. He also thought that the show was very successful and it had impressed the audience in a cultural, artistic and peaceful way.
He said, “I was sitting in the section for diplomats and I mentioned to the diplomats and ambassadors around me that Chinese New Year is the time for family re-union, but unfortunately many people could not do that due to some reasons. In the first half of the show this clear message had been expressed naturally, which is the most successful part of the show.”
Lü added, “The programmes are compact in an efficient and smooth way. The design and the creation are world class. The message of the show is also very clear. Congratulations. Congratulations on the New Year and on the successful show tonight.”
Feast of arts, touch of hearts
Ms Joelle said she liked the Bowl Dance most. “The girls were carrying a small bowl on their head, it is so pretty. The costumes were so delicate. Their sweet smile and cheerful face all have expressed their joy at heart, it was really wonderful.”
Ms Therese said she liked that contralto and she herself was a contralto. She also liked the Erhu and was moved to tears. She was in a completely different world and that feeling was really good.
Foreign diplomats, artists, academics, politicians, pro-democracy activists and audience from an art-loving Europe all gave high opinions of the show for its design and first class performance. Although the NTDTV Chinese New Year Spectacular had concluded in Paris, it has infused new liveliness and vigour to this world capital of the arts.
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