Friday, May 30, 2008

Deaf Chinese Dancers

I received this e-mail from my friend Wayne Gibson, retired Chairman of the Music Department at Kennesaw College.

Amazing...Deaf Chinese Dancers.

It's hard to imagine they are deaf.

Deaf Chinese Dancers - Absolutely Beautiful.

Here is an awesome dance, called the Thousand-Hand Guanyin, which is making
the rounds across the Internet. All 21 of the dancers are deaf. Considering the tight coordination required, their accomplishment is nothing short of amazing, even if they were not deaf. Relying only on signals from trainers at the four corners of thestage, these extraordinary dancers deliver a visual spectacle that is at once intricate and stirring. Its first major international debut was in Athens at the closing ceremonies for the 2004 Paralympics. Before that, the dance had long been in the repertoire of the Chinese Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe that had traveled to more than 40 countries. The lead dancer is 29 year old Tai Lihua, who has a BA from the Hubei Fine Arts Institute. The video was recorded in Beijing during the Spring Festival celebrations this year.

Watch Video Here.

Dear Wayne:
Thanks. It is both amazing and beautiful. As if beautiful is not amazing enough.

4 comments:

Tina said...

At the risk of sounding a bit Pollyanna-ish, let me comment that when one door closes you gotta open another door (or doors). When you reach a point in life where there are some things that you can't do any more, or things that you have done for the last time, then if you want to keep on living a rewarding life, you have to do new things for the first time. I know it is a hell of a situation for you to have lost your hearing, but I rejoice that you are blogging, and keeping yourself so well informed, and maintaining those apartments, and repairing stuff, and enjoying being a grandpa too. Your sense of humor is still intact, and thank goodness, your sense of taste...so you can enjoy Annette's wonderful cooking. As a cancer survivor (12years now)actually I can sometimes identify with Pollyanna. When she broke her arm, she was so glad it wasn't her leg ! (or her neck, I guess !) There's a lot to be said for surviving.

Cotter Pen said...

It is interesting that these thoughts should have come to your mind from the Deaf Chinese Dancers. My next blog posting, probably tomorrow, is about Hamilton Jordan, and in a way I thought maybe you were reading my mind, since you certainly could not have read the blog I had not yet posted. Maybe there is a little bit here and a little bit there.

sparklygirl said...

good gracious--here i've been thinking the chinese were good only for poisoning prisoner's toothpaste and putting lead in children's toys (and cleaning up after earthquakes mightily and efficiently it must also be said) and here they have actually shown themselves to be the premiere civilization of them all, by actually recreating heaven itself, with the whirling, thousand winged & eyed cherubim right here on earth, by way of deaf-dancers. with my own culture revealed to be like the lowly hay in the horse-dung. it is a beautiful thing and i guess it just goes to show we all reach, everywhere, for things of impossible, but just barely reachable beauty. thank you wayne gibson for seeing and hearing some of those who can't hear (!)

Anonymous said...

Dear Polly:

Battering rams sometimes come in handy for opening doors.

 

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