By Wu Jingsi and De Xiang, Minghui reporters in Berlin

(Clearwisdom.net) The New Tang Dynasty's Chinese New Year Spectacular that had just caused a stir in Paris, moved to Germany on February 27, 2007, to hold the first performance in the historic Internationales Congress Centrum in Berlin. Nearly 3,000 audience members from nearby Berlin appreciated the pageant of Oriental Art. When the curtain fell, the audience members were so thrilled that they applauded for quite a long time. The atmosphere was very moving.

Large-scale dance performance "Creation"

The complete success of the first performance of the NTDTV's Chinese New Year Spectacular in Germany

At 8:00 p.m. when the curtain slowly rose, revealing the sight of a heavenly scene for the dance performance "Creation," the audience burst into applause. The following programs were often ushered in with a round of applause as soon as the program started. When the "Ladies of the Manchu Court" stepped out on stage with dignified, slow steps, people were captivated by the grace of the young women dancers.

When the show concluded with the lively rhythmic dance "Resounding Drums," the entire audience stood and gave a long and enthusiastic ovation and were reluctant to leave. Chinese and German audience members raved about the heavenly scenes and magnificent colors, spectacular background, and the performers' high artistic skills. They thanked NTDTV for bringing such authentic traditional Chinese cultural values to their city.

Nearly a hundred guests from political positions in Germany, embassies, the media, businesses, cultural organizations, and human rights organizations of different countries attended the VIP Reception. President of the German Federation of Journalists Michael Konken said in his speech that protecting freedom of press is the responsibility of those working in the media, and he was glad to see the efforts made by so many members of the media for this matter.

President of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Poettering is also a German, and he wished the Spectacular's Global Tour success through NTDTV days ago.

Mr. Wunderlich, in charge of finances for the Christian Social Democratic Party of Germany, said his favorite program was the finale, "What I appreciated the most was the final dance performance with the drums--very exciting." He said he loved the show very much, that it was very different oriental culture. "The colors were rich and splendid, the music was fluent and in harmony with an Oriental ambiance, the programming was relaxed but richly varied, the solos, dances, drumming......everything. "

General manager of Berlin TV Dr. Tressler said that he has not expected the show to be so wonderful.

Berlin TV general manager Dr. Tressler said in an interview with reporters that the standard of the show exceeded his expectation. He had never expected the show to be so brilliant, because he had not had much understanding of authentic traditional culture before, and he came only out of curiosity.

Dr. Tressler said that he liked every program. He was impressed the most with the Erhu solo performed by Qi Xiaochu. He said her performance was simply superb, how such a simple musical instrument could burst forth with so much energy--he was amazed. He could imagine that he would sit at home after work on the weekend and quietly appreciate Erhu.

Britpress reporter Michael Kaiser, who is stationed in Germany, said to the reporter after the show that he liked it very much. He thought it was compact and multiple-faceted and that the traditional Chinese cultural things that he had been aware of were all covered. He thought it deserved to be widely recommended so that as many people as possible would see the show. "The content of the show was rich and wonderful, and the costumes were so beautiful and splendid." He was unable to decide which program he liked the most, and he was very surprised that the flow between programs was so skillful and swift and done with such a high standard. "If there is a show next year, I would come. This is a show worthy of recommendation."

Britpress focuses on coverage of entertainment news and often introduces world's outstanding performances. He hoped that such a show would to come to the UK, opening the eyes of the picky London viewers.

A teacher from the German Goethe Institute named Mrs. Kuzdas and her husband came to see the show together. Mr. Kuzdas, who especially wore Chinese-style clothes to come to see the show, said that the dancers are in harmony with the content of the dances, and he felt they liked very much what they wanted to express, not like some stage arts from China that give people a rigid and unnatural feeling, a kind of rote performance. Moreover, he thought the stage background was very beautiful--"a perfect combination with modern technology, very special!"

Mrs. Kuzdas thought the show very spectacular and successful in three aspects: the rich content, beautiful costumes, and appealing music. "The integration of the three aspects was very rare and beautiful."

Famous Chinese scientific philosopher and sociologist Mr. Zhong Weguang, who is living Germany, said that the emergence of the NTDTV Spectacular helps overseas Chinese who want to pursue freedom and break away from the control of the Chinese Communist Party have a show of their own. He believed that Chinese people indeed should have a real art to express our own traditional culture. He said that, because he recognized the show, he came to attend from several hundred kilometers away. Though he was not a Falun Gong practitioner, he treated it as his own performance and shared the feelings of the people on the stage and among the audience, pursuing our inner world.

Mr. Zhong continued to say that, before 1999, he kept pondering one question: why was there such poor cohesion among the Chinese people persecuted by the CCP's tyranny? Everybody said that the Chinese people did not have solidarity, cohesion, religious feelings or beliefs, and that they were simply in a state of disunity. Since the CCP started persecuting Falun Gong, he noticed that in the ensuing years, the number of practitioners has not decreased. Instead, they have formed a group with strong cohesion. "It is not that we Chinese people do not have beliefs or cohesion or pursuits." He thought when people were watching the NTDTV performance, "First we should think that it is a result of our Chinese people pursuing a new life and then following our traditions from that fresh start."Displaying traditional values and eternal truths

A German reporter, Sylvia, has shown great interest in the history of the development of NTDTV after watching the first show in Berlin. She felt that the show was not only enjoyable to hear and see but had spiritual connotations, guiding people to learn more about Chinese culture.

A retired woman from Berlin chanced to get a newspaper introducing the NTDTV Spectacular two days ago and immediately decided to buy a ticket to the performance. She was very pleased at NTDTV's courage in displaying the traditional values and eternal truths. She encouraged NTDTV to keep on journeying on the path. She said that she hoped NTDTV would host another show next year, because people in Berlin needed such performances. "Many performances in Berlin aim at attracting tourists and for business interests. We need NTDTV to bring people content on values, which is more important."

Alto singer Ms. Yang Jiansheng, who came with the performing troop for the grand performance, lives in Germany. She sang "Tiananmen Square, Please Tell Me" at the first show. She said that Germany is her second hometown, and this time coming to Germany she had a feeling of returning home. She said that artists should tell people real things. "If they are not true, that would mean little." She hoped her singing would help more people learn about the true situation in China.

Mr. Hsie Chi-wei, representative of Taiwan in Germany, held a unique view on the entire show that he explained in three points. The first was appreciation of the artistic content, the second was the philosophy relayed through artistic expression, and the third was that it also delivered information about political reality in Mainland China. The three points were so skillfully combined that he believed the show successfully conveyed the message the NTDTV wanted to bring to us.

He thought that the NTDTV show was artistically successful. He said, "As far as pure art is concerned, the singing and dancing conveyed an impression that was very clear and bright. This forms a stark contrast with the dark colors we are familiar with in Chinese culture. The show was brilliantly colorful." As for himself, the message conveyed through this kind of brightness is hope.

Hsie Chi-wei thought that NTDTV successfully enabled the audience to enjoy the two-hour show in an innovative way that combined art, philosophy, and political reality. "It is a display of healthy and bright Chinese culture." He felt the show was very successful. He said that he was confident that the second show next day would be even more stirring and magnificent. The first day was almost a full house. His friend said that there would be even more audience members the next day. So he said, "On behalf of Taiwan, this is a best gift of the boar for our overseas Chinese."

Posting date: 3/1/2007
Original article date: 3/1/2007
Category: Falun Dafa Worldwide
Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/2/28/149901.html