Daily Telegraph (Sydney, Australia): Mystic Traces, Chinese New Year Spectacular

Capitol Theater | March 30, 2007

Not even a traditional dance show can escape the disapproval of the Chinese Communist Party. According to the cast of the Chinese New Year Spectacular, which runs at The Capitol Theater until Sunday, the content of their show has been officially snubbed.

“We don’t know why they don’t like it,” says principal dancer Vina Lee, 44, who stars opposite her husband, Xuejun Wang. “But they have tried to suppress the show. They’ve sent letters to government leaders saying not to see our show, but to see one of theirs instead.”

“They’ve sent 60 shows to various parts of the world to compete with us.”

Rehearsed in New York where the company is based, the show features dances based on Chinese myths and legends. Other dances celebrate the changing of the seasons, Tibetan tea ladies and village elders. Since January, the show has toured North America, Europe and Japan, and will later to New Zealand, Taiwan and Korea.

But not China. Lee says the traditional tales have been adapted to suit the Chinese government’s ideology.

“After the cultural revolution, we lost our freedom of thought,” says Lee. “A lot of the tales have been modified. It sounds ridiculous but it’s the fact.”

That hasn’t deterred the 60 dancers, singers and musicians from trying to keep the original stories alive.

“A lot of people hear about the Chinese economy, but how many people really take time to discover the real Chinese culture?” she says.