I went to Ipoh Parade last evening again because according to the Kinta City program highlights, there would be the CNY Acrobatic Performance again. Well, as far as I know, last evening was the last performance, so if you missed it, too bad but you could still view the videos I shot, particularly of this very beautiful Chinese lady contortionist.

Ipoh Parade listed last evening’s show as “Chinese New Year Dance Show”. The sound system was pretty bad, I think they turned the volume overly loud or something, and all I caught was that these dancers were from Penang.

Since it was a “dance show”, all these four dancers did was dance, and wearing the same costumes in the few dances that they performed. Their ancient Chinese costumes remind meof TVB period dramas.

In fact, although I do not understand the stories that they tried to convey via their dances, I think the two guys were supposed to be Princes and the two ladies, lovely maidens. Mid-dance, the head gear of a Prince fell off and spoilt his regal look.

Although I like their gear and stuff, I felt that their dances were not engaging enough. We didn’t really know when a show started and when it ended. There were plenty of pauses between sets and there was once when the music stopped abruptly and so the dance ended abruptly as well.

Perhaps I’m to demanding but then these people aren’t performing for free, I believe, so they are obligated to provide a smoother performance. I think it’s quite a pity that there’s not a larger crowd here in Ipoh Parade. I think the emcee should prep up the crowd at least thirty minutes before the show, reminding us time and again that there WILL be entertainment at 8pm (sharp).

Here is a video I shot of one of the dances. I wish I had a better video camera!

After staking out in Kinta City for the past few evenings shooting photos and videos of the acrobatic performances and waited in vain for some other events which were scheduled but didn’t happen, I finally made my way to Ipoh Parade last evening.

The event highlight listed was “Acrobatic Dance & Singing Group Performance.” It was supposed to start at 8pm but I guess there was something wrong with the audio system and there was a delay of 20 minutes.

Anyway, this acrobatic dance and singing group comprises two guys and a gal. I have no idea if they were local folks or “imported”. They spoke in Mandarin throughout the show and as a banana and not proud of it, I had a difficult time following their chatter. I was there for the action, anyway.

The show lasted for about 40 minutes but there actually was too much down time. The music didn’t start and they had to cover up with senseless banter. Anyway, I still managed to shoot three videos, not of the best quality but passable.

This third video took YouTube the longest time to process. I had to delete it and reupload and finally managed to broadcast it live.

In any case, if you know Chinese, you’d probably enjoy this acrobatic dance and singing group performance more than I did.

I went to Kinta City last evening to catch the CNY Acrobatic Performance at 8pm even though I thought that it would be the same ol’ performances by the same acrobatic troupe from China. I have watched them a couple of times already but I didn’t have a choice since as far as I know, Ipoh Parade does not have any shows lined up yet until 31st January, 2009.

I went and am glad that I did. Here is a video of a very beautiful Chinese lady contortionist who looks like TVB actress, Gigi Lai (Gem of Life).

Her performance was flawlessly awesome. God only knows how much pain she went through when she was a kid training to be a contortionist. How the heck she does it, only contortionists will know. She looks like she is totally boneless, like a snake.

I know that many of us have watched something similar on TV already, especially on Chinese cultural programmes that are always shown on China’s CCTV on Astro. Still, watching it live is another experience altogether.