Chinese Hearing Impaired Dancers--Thousand Hand Bodhisattva

Thousand Hand Bodhisattva (Guan Yin) (千手观音)

As long as you are kind and there is love in your heart
A thousand hands will naturally come to your aid
As long as you are kind and there is love in your heart
You will reach out with a thousand hands to help others

Guan Yin is the bodhisattva of compassion, revered by Buddhists as the Goddess of Mercy. Her name is short for Guan Shi Yin. Guan means to observe, watch, or monitor; Shi means the world; Yin means sounds, specifically sounds of those who suffer. Thus, Guan Yin is a compassionate being who watches for, and responds to, the people in the world who cry out for help.

The bewitching performance of Thousand-hand Bodhisattva dance performed at the 2005 CCTV Spring Festival Gala by 21 hearing impaired girls and boys with the China Disabled People's Performing Art Troupe (CDPPAT) in Beijing caused a nationwide sensation. The movements were of breathtaking precision. The marvelous choreography, lavish costumes and perfect lighting were a thrilling experience. The audience never stopped wondering at the extraordinary accuracy of the 21 dancers' "thousand hands" gesticulating as if they belonged to one body. The dance was led by Tai lihua and choreographed and directed by Zhang Jigang. On September 28, 2004 at the Closing Ceremony of the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games the eight-minute debut of Thousand-hand Bodhisattva as a "theme song" wonderfully shocked the whole world.