It is a little like flomigo dancing in Spain because every one has a serees fasee [serious face.]  But in flomigo dancing there’s a lot ov stomping and in balonis dancing they tap there tos vary cwitliy [quietly.]

They had really serees fasees.

Here’s a video so you can hear the music too:

We got to meet the dancers at the end.

We also got to see a traditional war dance from Palangkaraya, the capital of central Borneo.

They wore a lot of feathers and bright colors.

This is a warrior doing the warrior dance.

The scale of this show matches the scale of the country itself, employing over 600 local villagers as actors to perform in a 70 minute show played out on the river and in front of an island where the theater seating has been constructed. The storyline is in Chinese, and while I am sure it was moving, we didn’t understand a thing that was going on. It didn’t matter, however, as the pageantry of actors using boats, floats and moving docks synchronized to music and dramatic lighting more than kept us entertained.

Art takes on many forms, whether it is human expression exposed on a stage or canvas, or Mother Nature etching impossibly beautiful rock formations or landscapes. Yanghuo brings both forms together, offering one of the most beautiful natural amphitheaters of limestone peaks with a peaceful river for a stage floor, combined with the large-scale imagination and might of an army of Chinese artists to create a very memorable experience.

this is the clapping

this is her lad shos

i like this part

Us inside the amazing  Palau de la Musica Cantalana

As appealing as it was, we were already stuffed and planning on going to the Magic Fountain that night. We had to choose one or the other and decided to omit the fountain and take in the nourishment of music. Though… at the last second we very boldly “yolo-ed” it, went to the Magic Fountain, AND arrived at the Palau de la Musica Catalana right in time to witness the amazing mellifluous workings of David Russell. To tell the truth I had never heard of him (that might be due to me not listening to Spanish guitar music in my free time) and David Russell didn’t exactly sound Spanish—we all were wondering how this was to play out, but we were excited and happy to be there.

David after one of the three encores he performed.

David was born in Glasgow, Scotland and moved to Minorca, Spain at the age of five. He then became interested in the guitar and went on to win many international competitions, other prizes and medals, and in 2004, a Grammy for best instrumental soloist in classical music for his CD Aire Latino.

Tuck and Jones soon fell fast asleep and at one point I too was almost headed down the same road, drowned by the sonorous guitar that seemed to breath in and out of the hypnotized crowd and which didn’t sound at all like only one person could be playing. David Russell was moving his hands so fast; too fast to even be possible, yet there I was watching him and his assiduous hands. It was very enigmatic. The music was flowing and harmonizing perfectly. He made it look so easy and natural. By the end it was hard to look at him; I just couldn’t wrap my head around how he was doing it. We finally woke Tuck and Jones and expressed to one another our feelings of awe and amazement at what we just encountered and then began our walk home.

Wescott meeting David and getting a signed CD of his music