‘I thought was very good in terms of reflecting history and culture’

Divine Performing Arts (DPA), a world-class cultural extravaganza, rang in the Lunar New Year with its “Chinese New Year Spectacular” on Sunday at Seattle’s renowned Paramount Theatre.
‘I thought was very good in terms of reflecting history and culture’
Some of the audience members found the show very moving. (Youzhi Ma/The Epoch Times)
Joan Delaney
1/18/2009
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/matinee2.jpg" alt="Some of the audience members found the show very moving. (Youzhi Ma/The Epoch Times)" title="Some of the audience members found the show very moving. (Youzhi Ma/The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1831265"/></a>
Some of the audience members found the show very moving. (Youzhi Ma/The Epoch Times)
SEATTLE—Divine Performing Arts (DPA), a world-class cultural extravaganza, rang in the Lunar New Year with its Chinese New Year Spectacular on Sunday at Seattle’s renowned Paramount Theatre.

Ms. Hartse, a professor of anthropology at a Washington college who attended Sunday’s matinee, said she enjoyed the show very much and found it “very moving.”

She especially liked the dance, Monk Jigong Abducts the Bride. One of the most beloved figures in Chinese history, Monk Jigong was known for his unorthodox and seemingly crazy manner of doing good works.

“I think that a lot of times we see people in our daily lives that we look down on or think are crazy or something is wrong with them but really underneath there is a spirit that we tend not to see. So the story is to really see beyond that, to see the true spirit of the person rather than the extrenal,” Ms. Hartse said.

DPA is a New York-based performance company founded by leading Chinese artists is seeking to revive China’s traditional culture and present it to audiences around the world through Chinese classical dance and music.

Ms. Hartse said that another piece that particularly stood out for her was Heaven Awaits us Despite Persecution, which tells the tale of a father persecuted for practicing Falun Dafa, a traditional spiritual practice rooted in ancient Chinese culture that was banned by the Chinese regime in 1999.

“It was very moving and very hopeful—very sad but then hopeful.”

Ms. Hartse added that the piece “would make people think about doing what, you know, is right regardless of this world’s consequences. Kind of like with the monk too: on the surface you are looked down on but underneath there is something that’s a stronger spirit that survives.”

She said she also enjoyed the soloists in the show—two tenors, a contralto and a soprano—as well as the overall protrayal of Chinese tradititonal culture and history.

“We live in a global society and so much that is presented is really relevant to living in this world. But culturally, its very very rich and historical and the dance movements ... I just thought was very good in terms of reflecting history and culture. I enjoy that part as well as to me, the spiritual message as well.”

The message the show imparted, said Ms. Hartse, “is to see beyond the surface of someone to a deeper spirit and to respect that and allow that to exist rather than to kill people and disagree with people; to allow people to have their belief and see beyond the surface …. To know the truth and to see that within other people is this spark of divine or life thats also within me and to also repsect that and to let the person be.”

With the launch of the DPA 2009 World Tour just before Christmas, three DPA companies will perform in 20 countries over the next four months, reaching an estimated live audience of about 800,000.

  Please see DivinePerformingArts.org for more information.

 

Joan Delaney is Senior Editor of the Canadian edition of The Epoch Times based in Toronto. She has been with The Epoch Times in various roles since 2004.
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