"I love it," said Mary Ryan, a retiree from Long Island. "I like everything – it's beautiful; the dancers are very beautiful."

Ryan said that the Chinese New Year Splendor introduced her to a world of dance she didn't know existed.

"I didn't know that ballet was different from Chinese dance, and then the Korean dances are different," said Ryan. "How can I say it . . . the way they perform is delicate, very beautiful."

Ryan took particular interest in the water depicted in some dances.

"The moving of the ribbons, I mean it's just fascinating," said Ryan. "The presentation of the water, the movement of the water, is passed into the movement of the bodies, and I think that is magic; it's magic."

Olga Sorinsky had similar thoughts. Sorinsky, who went to China last Fall, said this show exceeded what she saw there.

"I find the show very interesting," she said. "I see a lot of acrobatic dancing, and I think the dancers are very disciplined to be able to perform that well.

"It's magic. To me it's magic."