Joan Harrison, a cellist said: “I want to be part of the show. It was so fabulous.”
Ms. Harrison added: “I love that it was a live orchestra. I really appreciated that. And they sounded fabulous. A lot of energy. The music was beautiful. It matched what was on stage beautifully. The costumes were incredible. Especially, I loved the water sleeves that came out.”
Dan Stairs, a yard manager at Caterpillar Equipment, said: “That's a great show. I was really impressed by the dancers and the commitment they make to their art. It's fantastic how they move altogether in sync. Timing is perfect.”
John Thompson, a biologist, said: “I really liked the way the background, and the special effects were so seamless with the performers. The dancers too. I've never seen anything like that before. It was really good and it was a positive, uplifting message as well.”
Ms. Harrison said: “The erhu is amazing. And the different colors, and it's so emotional. And that was a beautiful performance. It was really spectacular. I love that. It feels like the human voice very much so. And it's amazing what can be done with only two strings. It's great. The most natural thing in music with instruments [is that] we're supposed to imitate the voice. So it was really nice to include that. And the pianist was fabulous, too. [The Orchestra] just sounded natural to me and it sounded beautiful. I wasn't necessarily thinking, oh, it's a Chinese melody with Western instruments. It just all blended and I found it very energetic.”
The audience was taken on a journey exploring 5,000 years of Chinese culture and history, fulfilling its mission to revive China before communism.
Ms. Harrison said: “I could use another two hours at least. There's so much more. And it was beautiful. And I loved that Tibet was included and Buddhism was included, and it showed the spirituality of Chinese culture. People need their culture. And I think showing the stories through the arts is probably the most powerful, because if someone comes up and tells you something. We don't hear it, but when you get it through the arts, it can go here [the heart]. So I appreciated that. But I think especially in troubled times, we need our foundation and where we come from. So I hope that people will learn the ancient stories.”
Mr. Stairs added: “From 1949 on, how did the Communist Party take hold of such a culture? And how did it hold on? Today, maybe I don't understand, but it sounds to me like it could go back to the way it was. It would be better for all.”
Mr. Thompson added: “We've lost most of those stories and legends because the modern world just sees it as superstition with no value. And yet these stories do have good value. They show the proper way to live and harmony and love and giving and peace, peacefulness.”
Ms. Harrison added: “I think we do all need to be reminded that we need to have compassion. We need to be there for each other, be kind, be truthful, all those things. And this show really brought that out beautifully.”
