Myths and Legends Dazzle Wilmington Audiences on Chinese New Year

By Yue Peng
Epoch Times
Staff Reporter
Feb 01, 2006

Colorful dragons, elegant dancers and gifted musicians graced the stage of Wilmington, Delaware’s historic Grand Opera House on January 24 in celebration of the Chinese New Year. New Tang Dynasty Television, the Greater Philadelphia Asian Culture Center and Delaware Asian Culture Center hosted two performances of NTDTV’s Chinese New Year Global Gala was held for the first time in the Greater Philadelphia area. Theatrical dance performances recreated beloved Chinese myths and legends for a noontime matinee and an evening performance for the general public.

The Wilmington gala was one of 16 productions of NTDTV's global gala to be held worldwide and was the third one held in North America. In addition to the touring programs, local performers, such as the Wilmington Children’s Chorus and The Philadelphia Brass also performed in the shows. Master and mistresses of ceremonies included Jared Pearlman, Xiao Ming and Denise Nakano, a popular NBC10 news anchor.

Students, teachers and seniors enjoy matinee performance

More than 600 hundred students, teachers, and senior citizens from local nursing homes attended the afternoon performance. Mr. Charles Baldwin, the principal of the Delaware Military School led a class of students in blue dress uniforms to the theater. After the performance, Mr. Baldwin said that the show was very good and he would like to take all the students in the school to the show next year. "The Nine Swords" and "Passing Lanterns in the Divine Land" were favorites with the students, who burst into applause at neon dragon dancing and flying onstage. Acclaimed Philadelphia-area chef Joseph Poon was one of the hosts for the afternoon show delighted students while sharing the traditional customs and virtues of caring for others and themselves. The ShopRite supermarket chain sponsored over 200 students from the New Jersey East High School and West High School, including many Asian students. Two hundred students came from the Discovery Charter School of Philadelphia. Teacher Caroline Johnson said that she was very glad that students had the opportunity to watch such traditional and elegant Chinese arts. She said she wanted to participate in future activities hosted by the Greater Philadelphia Asian Culture Center.

The students were buzzing with excitement after the performance. One girl said: "It was wonderful! I like the dragon dance very much." One boy said: "The story about the flower that blossoms every three thousand years is very, very good!" Students reported learning about the Chinese New Year, Year of Dog, dragons, and more for the first time. Mike, a Vietnamese high school student said: "I have some knowledge about China and India. I like this show very much. It was wonderful!"

Ann, a teacher from the West Cherry Hill High School led 40 students from an Asian Culture class to watch the gala. She said: "Thank you very much. The performance was just wonderful. The costumes and music were outstanding! We had a lot of fun. This is the best opportunity for our students to learn about the Chinese culture. Students need an open mind to learn and respect other cultures." Patty, a teacher from the East Cherry Hill High School led 200 students to the gala. "This is a very good opportunity for our students to enjoy such wonderful performances and share the myths, legends and culture,” she said. “We appreciated it very much." Having seen the “Evening Banquet of the Tang Dynasty” on a visit to Xian City with another teacher, she wanted to introduce Chinese culture to their students.

Melina, who lived in China and worked in an opera house said: "This was the best Chinese culture show I have ever watched." Chinese-Vietnamese Guo Kaifen happily told us: "The show was very good. Nine swords fought against the evil dragon. The music and sound effect were especially good. The performers are beautiful." Ms. Li who watched the first global gala in New York three years ago said, "This year's performance was better than the first year. It was wonderful!" She was glad that she could watch the show live near Philadelphia.