What followed immediately was The Paradise by Yang Haitao and his brother Yang Haijun, a soothing serenade that catapulted Haitao to national prominence when he performed it at the Bird’s Nest stadium for the 2008 Beijing Paralympics.
The brothers barely moved once led on stage, their eyes unable to see the applauding multitude before them. Heads tilted upward expectantly, they started the tune:
Gently your hands grace my face.
Quietly I feel your warmth beside me.
Even though I cannot see you,
Or your shadow.
I know you are right here,
Right here with me.
The voices were dulcet and becalming, their rendition of the song's longing evocative but never sentimental. It had an instant resonance that may be hard to explain, but is natural to blind artists bestowed with such beauty and dignity. The Yang brothers' performance was both humbling and inspiring to their audience as there was no mistaking its artistic value.
That effect - dignity in restraint, yet therefore all the more dazzling - was just as true for the other performances.
