THE CHINESE GOLDEN DRAGON ACROBATS WERE COMPLETELY TOTALLY AND INSANELY AWESOME!!!!!!!!!
Oh my goodness! They were so great! I have NEVER been to ANYTHING like that before! Mom and I left the house at around 5:15-ish, and I was, you know, excited, but knew that the real deal would settle in my stomach when we got closer to our destination. I was telling mom on the way,"First I'll get major excited about something maybe three days before hand, and then the morning of, wake up and be like "Oh, goody! We're going to see such and such today!" Then through the day, it wears off. The time comes to leave, I'm happy, somewhat giddy. Then we head down the road. What happens then? I go into a state of what I call 'Delirious Excitement'. This is where I get in a really, REALLY strange mood, ramble, and think it myself "Am I dreaming?""
Now the butterflies kick in. An hour and a half of driving, and we're drawing closer. We've taken the turn that will lead us there. Busy streets, setting sun, rumbling car motors, shouting people. I'm helping mom with directions as she tries to maneuver the busy, under-construction roads, and then realize that my fingers are cold and my whole body seems to be shaking; the kind of shake that only YOU notice. EEK! We're almost there! It was just 7:00pm, so we had plenty of time before 8:00. We found the Appalachian University where it was being held, found the auditorium, and I gaped at the massive line of cars and crowds of people. Mom stopped the car and talked to a lady near by.
"....are all of these people here for the Chinese Acrobats?"
The lady nodded.
"Yes; there's nothing else going on that I know of."
I scrunched up my face.
"Sheesh...good thing we've got seats reserved."
Knowing where we were to be going, we turned back around and went across the road to a Subway where we ate dinner. I was still very excited and didn't finish the bag of chips I got...which is rare, by the way. :)
Anyway, after this, we walked out of Subway, heading towards the car. As I opened the door to get in, I called across to mom.
"Hey, what time is it?"
She checks her watch.
"7:20."
*GATHP!*
I shot into the car, nearly twisting my ankle in those heels I was wearing.
"Hurry! We gotta go!"
Once again, we went to the University and found a parking place. The sun was lowering over the horizon, and glared into all of the car windows, making us squint. The air was nice and not too hot. There were lots of people, and the thrill began to sink in. I shivered, though it wasn't cold.
"Oh boy oh boy oh boy! This is so neat! I've never been to something like this!"
I clutched mom's arm, and we went inside. It was crowded, and loud chattering filled the air.
"Welcome to Farthing Auditorium," said a man with a smile and slight lispt.
"Would you like to sign up for our Silent Auction?"
Mom shook her head...I was too busy looking around at the big crowd; you could barely see through the crammed place!
"Where are the Acrobats going to be, do you know?"
He nodded, looking at our tickets.
"Yes ma'am, they'll be behind those double doors back there when they open."
I grabbed mom's hand.
"Come on! Let's get in line before it stacks up."
We shouldered past several...well...BUNCHES of people to get to the doors. There wasn't a big line, as there were lots of people browsing the tables of Auction items. I leaned against the wall, clutching the tickets.
"I'm going to the restroom, I'll be right back," mom said.
I shifted the sling bag on my shoulders to a more comfortable position, fidgeting and glancing around the big room.
Oh man...I still don't believe this. That's so neat! I wonder what it will be like.......
I thought this to myself, eyes moving back and forth around the room of people. I waited for a couple of minutes for mom because of the line, and then she came on out.
"What time???"
I hissed in her ear. She smiled.
"About two more minutes.."
Sooner than expected, the doors opened and lines started to form. A long, dark hallway loomed past them. Scary, eh? Anyway, since we were close up front, we got in quickly, handing over our tickets and keeping the stubs. Mom spoke as we walked down the stairs.
"Okay...row 'H', seats 1 and 3."
We gazed up at the row of doors along the walls, each having various letters on them. Walking further down, we found the door that had the letter "H" on it.
How appropriate, I thought. =D
"This is it!" I squealed, trying to keep my voice down.
I opened the door, and row upon row upon row of scarlet red seats greeted us, a long walkway down either side and the middle, and a big stage with a lit-up curtain. I took in a breath.
This is CRAZY! Oh yikes....
The seats were quickly filling up. We found row "H" and scooted down towards the end, finding our seats. I looked from my seat to the stage.
PERFECT! Wonderful view. Five rows from stage. YES! Absolutely picture-perfect. Wonderful. Quite.
We sat down and sure enough, it proved to be the best seat in the house. Hey, at least we weren't up front where some acrobat could accidentally roll of stage and kill you! It was a great view. We sat there for about, MAYBE, thirty more minutes....I'm not sure. I was too excited. The big speakers on the stage and around the room rumbled over the den of chatter, Chinese drums, flutes and vocals filling the place. I squirmed.
THIS IS GREAT!
Mom laughed. "Ten more minutes, Han."
I sat back, taking everything in. The music, the loud chatter, and I just couldn't help but wonder what was taking place behind that curtain. I'd love to help with something like that! Ten minutes turned to five, five to three, and three to the music coming to a halt and the lights dimming. Everyone went quiet, (except for the annoying people behind us....) A man came out on stage, holding a mic.
"Welcome! Alright, let's get started...." etc etc etc. He went on about the up-coming events at the University, sponsors of the whole thing and so on. Moments after he came on stage, he left, and the pre-recorded audio went off over the speakers.
"This show is highly copy-righted, and any video, audio or photography is strictly prohibited. Please take a moment to note the green EXIT signs on either walls, and in the unlikely even of an emergency, leave from one of these doors and go straight to your car; do not return to the lobby. Please take all crying babies outside. And now, the Chinese Golden Dragon Acrobats."
The lights went out, the music began to rumble...the curtain went up.
I sat through the whole show in awe. I forgot to clap. It was breath-taking. The lights. The music. The performers. All of them amazing. I could NOT believe it. The music seemed to throb through your body and you felt every percussion, every drum beat. It really did make me want to cry. Don't ask why. I just got so happily overwhelmed at it all that I wanted to cry. The performers were absolutely, completely, without question, the best on earth. I've never laid eyes on anything like it. One guy came out on stage and preformed Wushu, which was breath-taking to watch. Several women did impossible bends. Two men did an absolutely unbelievable power act. (Trust me...that had to be one of the best acts. They came out, walking to the drum beat with gold sparkling capes on them. Then they walked up to the platform, the lights dark, and dropped the capes from around their shoulders. They were wearing half-masks, which really reminded me of the Phantom of the Opera, Chinese version, of course. They moved so slowly and mysteriously, it made me almost shrink back! It was absolutely ...CREEPY!) A woman balanced several small glasses stacked on each other, her outfit shimmering in the lights. About thirteen men and women got on one bike, rolling around stage. Several men ran like lightening through hoops; if you blinked, you missed something! It was completely breath-taking. Literally. I can't say it enough. Wow. Just...wow.
I'm so glad we went! Mom and I couldn't stop talking about it the whole ride home. Amazing. We bought a booklet and I got a bracelet to wear all the time.
(In fact, I'm wearing it now:)
I've taken a promotional video off of YouTube for you to see; there is a scene where the two guys are doing the power act, and they're immodestly dressed, though at the show they had on trouser-like pants. Just thought I'd let you know before you watch it. :)
Thanks so much for reading and bearing with me through my freaking-out mode!
I really, really, REALLY enjoyed it and hope we can go see them again!
In Christ,
-Hannah
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