Ms. Ryan was raised as a performing artist, a dancer, and a singer. (The Epoch Times)

SAN FRANCISCO—It was a picture in a newspaper that brought Ms. Ryan, an artist and real estate agent, to see the Divine Performing Arts Chinese New Year Spectacular at the War Memorial Opera House on Friday evening Jan. 9.

"I thought it was exquisite and thrilling. Quite honestly, I had no expectation and I was captured by the photograph. I am an artist and I had done that kind of work and I felt the sensitivity of it warranted a lot of attention."

It was not easy for her to come to the show, she explained. "I live 90 miles away, above Sacramento. An hour and a half here and an hour and a half back. Let me tell you, it was totally worth it. I would turn around and come back tonight to see it again if I could. It was thrilling."

When she thought about which dance was her favorite she said, "For two or three times I actually gasped—I actually went “Ohh!” I will say this about the dance in particular. This is the part that thrilled me the most … the exquisite mastery of using the props—the scarves, the fans, the chopsticks—the chopstick dance—I was thrilled by the chopstick dance [Mongolian Chopsticks]. I wanted to get up and dance myself. Maybe, the chopstick dance was my favorite.

In this dance, the vivacity of ethnic dance from China's hinterlands bursts forth in the contagiously joyful and festive use of chopsticks by Mongolian women--who use bundles of chopsticks to greet guests.

“There was another prop—the swords—when the men danced with the very long swords. The precision of that was absolutely spectacular," Ms. Ryan said, speaking of the piece, Mulan Joins the Battle.

Reflecting on the overall show, Ms. Ryan said, "It brings up really ethnic differences which I am very grateful to have the opportunity to address because I am one of the citizens who so greatly welcome the Asian influence in aesthetic values and temperament—attitude. I do 'human attitude' … It’s a kind of sensitivity to others. There's a respect for distance and measurement among Asian people that I think the rest of us do not have. There's some kind of awareness of the presence of another person and I think that’s why those dancers can be so precise without markings on the floor or any kind of utterance to help you get where you are supposed to go. The precision is totally spectacular. It is spectacular—it truly is."

Ms. Ryan was raised as a performing artist, a dancer, and a singer. But, as she relates, "I chose to do visual art instead and ultimately, what I do is 'human attitude'. I try to capture the attitude of human beings and, of course, dance represents that."

She could see this in the show, "And that is why I'm so absolutely captivated. The stillness or the control of spirit and the redirection of spirit is very different with Chinese [classical dance]."

Ms. Ryan also talked about the message the show gave her. "The most important part to me was watching the whole—the entirety of it and the precision especially, and the colors also. There is such a rewarding presence of color on the stage. The color itself is thrilling. The color itself can change your attitude and can make you feel differently."

"I was very thrilled to hear the expression ‘divine intervention’ on stage. I think the Chinese believe in divine intervention and so do I. Many people don't [believe in that]. I think I see that in the dance and in the performance and I'm very attuned to that and spiritually moved."

She was wearing an authentic Chinese robe, which she said she rarely had an opportunity to wear, but tonight was the right time. She said the costumes on stage were "absolutely exquisite."

In addition to the costumes, she thought the backdrop was "absolutely brilliant … I thought it was masterfully done—masterfully done. It is an illusion that can't be achieved any other way and yet it is complete. It has a wholeness of its own."

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Divine Performing Arts 2009 World Tour. For more information please visit DivinePerformingArts.org