Chinese

Precision spiritual technology. A phrase heard on Discovery Channel, on a show about ancient Egyptian discoveries, concerning the obelisks.

We made it to the Chinese New Year event at the library yesterday. MUCH better than I expected. A Chinese Folk Music Orchestra could easily be tiresome, but they kept the pieces short enough, and the sound amazing, so that we were entranced. Folk music is often like Sacred Harp singing, folk dancing and other amateur endeavors, a lot of fun to DO, not at all to watch or listen to. Not so much in this case. Likewise the pair of 9 or ten year old girls with violins, we braced ourselves, but no cringe came, as they were accomplished musicians.

The best moment was during the tai chi demonstration, which was dull, but the previous little girl dance troupe, in shiny pink skirts, floaty sleeves, pink headdresses with plumes, bunched up at the door near the stage, and began leaking out in a crouched caterpillar of little girls. "They can't see us, because we are hunkered down!" Amused us to no end, as they sneakily snuck out to rejoin their families. The older girls, in blue, stayed backstage, save for their performance, that made me wonder about any historical sloshing back and forth between classical French ballet, and Chinese dance forms.

Loved the dragons at the beginning, though. Of the two, one had a real "butt actor" in the form of much excited tail wagging. The young children menaced by the jaw waggling, ear wiggling, eye batting dragons, laughed. And I wondered if their intentionally scary demeanor wasn't better than the clowns who try to be "happy" aren't more creepy? No crying babies, only a wonderment and desire to pet the fluffy faces.

One of the "sponsors" gave a speech, in what we finally decided was probably English. Not his native tongue, certainly.

I sort of hoped to see an old friend, who is half Chinese. Maybe next year.

All in all, we will be there next year.