Dance of 1000 Hands

This is quite possibly the coolest thing I have seen. In the world.

Just as a disclaimer for what is said below, I also want to note that I DON'T find it extraordinary that deaf people did this. I think deaf people, just like hearing people, can do absolutely anything they set their mind to do! In fact, in a lot of cases I think the deaf are even more perceptive of the visual arts than hearing people. I AM very impressed that these artists obviously put so much work into an astoundingly intricate performance.

This was sent to me in an email:

Dance of 1000 Hands

Read the paragraph below FIRST before you watch the video website.

There is an awesome dance, called the Thousand-Hand Guanyin, which is making the rounds across the net. Considering the tight coordination required, their accomplishment is nothing short of amazing, even if they were not all deaf. Yes, you read correctly. All 21 of the dancers are completely deaf. Relying only on signals from trainers at the four corners of the stage, these extraordinary dancers deliver a visual spectacle that is at once intricate and stirring.

Its first major international debut was in Athens at the closing ceremonies for the 2004 Paralympics. But it had long been in the repertoire of the Chinese Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe and had traveled to more than 40 countries.

Its lead dancer is 29 year old Tai Lihua, who has a BA from the Hubei Fine Arts Institute. The video was recorded in Beijing during the Spring Festival of 2005.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4478632727623323561