Residents spread word on Chinese ‘Spectacular’

Visitors to a local Costco on recent weekends may have been surprised to be greeted by a man and woman dressed as a Chinese emperor and empress.

These admirers of Chinese culture are in fact volunteers helping to spread the word on a major production coming to New Jersey to celebrate the Lunar New Year. To mark the arrival of the Year of the Ox, New York-based Divine Performing Arts will bring its annual “Chinese New Year Spectacular” to New Jersey for the first time in 2009.

Last season, this world-renowned company toured 80 cities around the world to share the beauty of classical Chinese dance with audiences on four continents.

Lunar New Year, or Chinese New Year, falls on Jan. 26. The “Chinese New Year Spectacular” will play at New Brunswick’s State Theatre on Jan. 24-25, and then move to Newark’s New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) on Jan. 26-27.

One of the volunteers, East Brunswick resident Frank Lee is a computer engineer. He said that his family saw the show in the past few years and really enjoyed the beauty of the performance. His kids loved the stories and legends in Chinese history depicted in the programs. Knowing that Divine Performing Arts is visiting New Jersey this year, he decided to help introduce the show to more local families.

Another volunteer, North Brunswick resident Leland Ma, appreciated that the show embodied the traditional values and ideals held dear by Chinese people over the millennia. She said she believes that the compassion, perseverance and forbearance shown in the performance are heartwarming and uplifting for everyone during the current economy crisis.

Based in New York, Divine Performing Arts is a nonprofit organization that is independent of China’s communist regime, and which seeks to revive the five-millennia-old artistic tradition of China. The company seeks to breathe new life into traditional Chinese culture while providing audiences with an experience of sublime beauty.

Bedecked in colorful costumes and accompanied a high-tech dynamic backdrop and a live orchestra consisting of Western and traditional Chinese instruments, the performers set out to transport their audiences across time and space with ethnic dances from all corners of China, and dramatic dances drawn from stories throughout Chinese history.

Show times for the performances are 8 p.m. Jan. 24, and 2 and 7 p.m. Jan. 25 at the State Theatre in New Brunswick; 7:30 p.m. Jan. 26, and 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 27 at NJPAC in Newark. For tickets or more information, call 877-NTD-SHOW (877-683- 7469) or visit NYSpectacular.com.