All Things But None

I was going to name this post Video Friday, but on second thot, that would be lamer than lame!! haha! Anyway, I saw this Thousand-Hand Guanyin dance piece on YouTube early last year, and have always wanted to post this online, but never did. But last night I found another video of the same performance at the 2005 CCTV Spring Festival Gala!! I was ecstatic! [CCTV performance]

Since it's been out for so long, a good few of you might've seen this already. This particular dance piece is performed by 21 deaf-mutes from the China Disabled People's Performaning Art Troupe (CDPPAT) [Yeah! I can't read it either! gaaah!], led by Tai Lihua [foreground in picture], the lead dancer and the captain of the team. Tai and the other 20 dancers, together with their choreographers and 'sign instructors' [who signal the rhythm of the music as with a maestro and his orchestra] have been traveling and performing around the world for the past years.

"Each time before we practise, our sign language teacher turns up the music and we put our hands on the speakers to feel the vibration," Tai said. "The teacher also explained the music to us. That, along with repeated practice, helps us to reach a state of near perfection."

You can read the article here. Not that Tai is famous or anything like that in China, but the article gives a fascinating view on how one, being a disabled person, got to be where she is today. Any positive media exposure to the disabled community is always good!

All and all, according to Zhang Jigang, the choreographer for this Thousand-Hand Guanyin piece, the ultimate message of this performance can be summed up in the following words:

As long as you are kind and there is love in your heart
A thousand hands will naturally come to your aid
As long as you are kind and there is love in your heart
You will reach out with a thousand hands to help others

I find that simply inspirational!! Again, here is their CCTV performance [I loved it when the guy came out towards the end - happysad!!], and here is the original performance [edited, but the camera angle in this one is dead-on!] that I saw from early last year. You can always search for the full version on YouTube. I think it would be a treat if they'll perform at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics ceremony!

Lastly, before I go, I want to thank you all for the comments on my last post. That was really unexpected!! I've never had this many comments before and never will again either. I did manage to reply back to everyone. Thanks again and hope you enjoy the video[s]. Have a great Friday everybaudy.