Clothes Grace the Dance

The dazzling costumes in NTDTV’s Chinese New Year Spectacular are as much a part of each dance as the dance movements themselves. They are, in many ways, the teapot warmer on which the dance is performed. Clothes, hair, colors—this is what transports us to the Divine Land of ancient China.

The Spectacular's wardrobe designers put great effort into creating just the right effect. A costume starts with a concept of the dance. The dance may have a powerful story or be found in a specific dynasty. Designers pore over paintings, frescoes and even statues to find the right look. Accessories then come into the design—hair, shoes, hats, belts. Next come sketches. Designers must consider not only how an outfit looks but also its flexibility for dance movements and whether it is durable enough to withstand over eighty performances.

Then the sketch goes to the sewing workshop. Here garment makers select just the right fabric, make the pattern and produce a sample. If it’s not just right, the whole process starts over. If the sample is approved, the task of making the clothes begins. Multiply this countless times. A single dance in this year’s Spectacular, the dance drama of General Yue Fei, required more than 100 costumes and accessories.

For Amy Lee, the principal designer in New York, this effort is well worth it. “When I came to the United States, I saw it was very difficult to find any expression of traditional Chinese culture. Through this show I see the hope of being able to preserve my culture for the benefit of my daughter and the next generation.”

Ms. Lee has worked in the fashion industry for more than twenty years. She was a professor of fashion design and fashion history in China. Although her costumes take inspiration from different dynasties and ethnic regions, her favorite dynasty is the Tang. She says the Tang Dynasty reflects the zenith of Chinese culture—artistically, economically and politically. During this time China was very open-minded. Prosperous and peaceful, the Tang Dynasty drew on influences from India, the Middle East and Europe.

According to Ms. Lee, all this is reflected in the clothes. “The clothes were rich and confident. They were uplifting,” she said. “Women wore large, open sleeves, sometimes up to two and a half feet wide. They wore see-through materials and gowns with high waists that were decorated with large, open flowers.”

Each dynasty had its own characteristics that were likewise reflected in the clothes. In general, Ms. Lee says everything can be found in the clothes—even the ancient people’s morals and values. “Clothing isn’t just a way to cover the body. It also reflects a person’s thoughts, culture and respect for the gods.”

Ms. Lee and her team use costume design to make ancient Chinese culture come alive today, to help the audience understand that traditional Chinese culture has much it can teach us today. Ms. Lee knows that through her efforts with NTDTV, these positive aspects of ancient China will not be forgotten.

Homeschool Message Boards Talked About

There are a number of ways to find homeschool message boards and other supports on the web the days. But before anything else, I think it is necessary for you to know the basic concept of homeschooling. For the newbies and the curious, note and understand the following details:

The term “homeschooling” actually means to educate your children at home rather than in public or private school. Homeschooling exists in a number of ways. One of the most common is unschooling or child-led education, that is, when you follow your children’s natural interests and curiosities to educate them. There is also the School at Home method is when you purchase the textbooks for all subjects and follow much the same ideology put in practice in traditional school. Also, there are the classical approach or trivium, Montessori method, unit studies, and the satellite school. You will know everything about these approaches when you consider participating on homeschool message boards.

But, where exactly on the web you can find and participate in homeschool message boards? I have a few sites below that you can visit if you are really serious of knowing the different aspects of homeschooling, or you just want to know and make friends with people who are also interested in homeschooling.

Homeschool Central

Homeschool Central now offers a number of areas covering homeschooling. They also have maintained a lot of homeschool message boards that you can join if you want to post advices, ask questions or post comments on the other users’ posts. And, perhaps what’s best about this site is that it offers not only its own homeschool message boards, but also other links to forums that discuss about homeschooling.

Teen Homeschool Hang

This site was designed and developed for one particular purpose – to provide homeschooled teenagers a way to hand out with other homeschoolers of their age from all over the world, and to supply interesting things to do and read online. It is also nice to know that this site is a safe site. So, teens can have fun exchanging thoughts on the homeschool message boards and parents don’t have to worry. Also, this site is a Christian-based, but everyone is actually welcome. The managers and moderators of their homeschool message boards are current homeschoolers or recent homeschool graduates. So, whether you’ve been homeschooled your whole life or you just started heomeschooling, the Teen Homeschool Hang has a place for you online.

CRA California Homeschool

CRA California Homeschool message boards are the ideal place to go for California homeschoolers. This is where you can meet together online for support, questions, encouragement, and answers. Also, this is the exact place to share your homeschooling successes and struggles with the other California homeschoolers. What’s more nice to know about the homeschool message boards maintained by CRA is that their forums are open to all homeschoolers, afterschoolers, and people considering homeschooling or those who are seeking information. You can also post inquiries about general parenting and family issues here as these matters are highly welcome.