“Just the beauty of the performance and the example of the culture,” said Thomas Megargle, a law enforcement officer. “I really appreciate the beauty of the men’s dance and the women’s dance and how they’re very distinct and just exemplifying the beauty of men and women.”
Sloan Younglove, a retired engineer at Boeing, said, “I thought that was very interesting, how they had the screen, the projection behind, and how they incorporate [everything]. The actors would disappear into the screen and then appear, and it looked very real. It was very interesting.”
Rodney Kendrick, a retired aerospace engineer, said, “I liked the technical ingenuity of the screens and the animation mixing with real life. Very good.”
Mr. Younglove said, “I loved it. It was great. I love to see the different movements, the different cultures, the stories, traditional stories, the athleticism, and the artistry combined, and the music. I think it’s great to see that before communism, which I’m not a fan of communism, so I love to see the China before that. Such a beautiful thing.”
Mr. Kendrick said, “It goes on for 5,000 years. I can make a whole dissertation out of trying to learn all Chinese culture, but it’s great to see the presentation.”
Each performance features a live orchestra, which combines classical Western and Eastern instruments. Audience members also appreciated the singers and the message behind their lyrics.
Mr. Younglove said, “The lyrics were good to see. I thought it was very good for this day and age, when there’s a suppression of free speech or faith, that it was good to see not being afraid to say what you think and express that.”
Leslie Irizarry, a speech language pathologist, said, “I think it’s very memorable. It’s something you never forget. I would say everything about it, the music, the dancing, the beauty, the scenes, it evoked all sorts of emotions like awe and delight and being touched, and crying, and just every emotion that you could feel, I felt watching this program.”
“I think the traditional Chinese is a lot superior to the ideologies they have today, and bringing that back is a blessing for the people,” said David Irizarry, a retired software engineer with Morgan Stanley. “I’m congratulating them all on an excellent performance and a repeatedly excellent performance over 20 years, and I think I’m looking forward to attending this again, maybe next year.”
