Getting in Touch with Their Roots

The 2008 Chinese New Year Spectacular in Boston drew audiences from all over Massachusetts and New England. Among them were numerous families with children adopted from China.

The parents said they brought their adopted children to see the performance of the Divine Performing Arts to put them in touch with Chinese culture and their roots. David and Mary Ebel live in the town of Orlean on Cape Cod. They have a 4-year old daughter adopted from China named Xiao-Xue. David is a manager in a real estate management company in Boston. When he saw the poster for the performance, he thought this was an opportunity for their daughter as well as he and his wife to better understand Chinese culture. Therefore they drove 2 hours to see the fourth performance in Boston over the weekend.

Cynthia and Gary Florindo and their daughter Jin-Hua from Rochester, MA (The Epoch Times)

After the show, David said that the show was "fantastic", and that he liked the stage backdrop and the bright colors. He also said that the show contains historical stories, and is very traditional, and that it helped him understand what is happening in China.

Mary and Xiao-Xue loved all of the performances. Mary especially appreciated the vignettes about the persecution of Falun Gong; she felt the ongoing persecution in China was horrendous. She said this show was "absolutely successful" and that she would tell everyone she knows to come see the show next year. The Florindos of Rochester, MA also brought their 13-year old adopted daughter, Jin-Hua, to see the show. Husband Gary said the Jin-Hua came to the U.S. only a year ago. They want to do what they can to keep Jin-Hua in touch with her cultural roots. Therefore, they ordered tickets the moment they saw the commercials about the performance on TV.

Neither Gary nor his wife Cynthia had ever seen a Chinese performance before. Although they came to the performance principally for Jin-Hua's benefit, they felt the trip was well-worth the hour and a half drive. Cynthia liked all of the performances, especially the percussive pieces.

When queried of the faith-based message in some of the show contents, Gary said that all people of faith have similar understandings, that he agrees about the show's content about Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance.

Cynthia added that she felt the producer did a seamless job incorporating the show's message into the performances. Before leaving, Cynthia made it a point to ask the reporter to teach her "Happy New Year" in Chinese.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Divine Performing Arts shows that will perform in over 60 cities worldwide in 2008. To find a show near you, please visit www.bestchineseshows.com.