MADISON, Wis.—The Divine Performing Arts (DPA) Company, based in New York, performed before an enthusiastic audience at Madison’s Overture Center For the Arts on Thursday night, Feb.12.
Professor Roberts teaches psychology and is the faculty director at a Wisconsin college was in the audience with a group of students.
DPA’s mission is to renew classical Chinese dance, which contains a myriad of high-flying dives, dexterous leaps, and diverse spins that creates a rich expression on the stage and gives audience members an opportunity to experience ancient Chinese culture.
“I see some historical influences [in the dance] of Buddhism’s rise through India and up into China. I can’t understand lots of the meanings as they are kind of specific to some of the dance elements,” said Professor Roberts.
Among Dr. Roberts’s students was a young man, Mr. Chang, from mainland China. “It’s interesting to see the classical Chinese dance. I think that the stories are pretty classical, too. I don’t get to see this kind of show in China, so it’s pretty good,” said the young Chinese student.
“You don’t get to see those representations in current Chinese culture because of the repressive aspect on religion,” Dr. Roberts added.
Dr. Roberts was referring to the dance Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution that depicts the painful situation in China: Falun Gong, a traditional spiritual path, is persecuted.
“Definitely, this is a totally different perspective, seeing a show here in the states,” said the Chinese student.
Dr. Roberts appreciated the tremendous amount of work that went into show. He personally liked the women dancers, especially the fan dancers.
“I am impressed how much work it must be to keep the wrists hardy moving. The fans were vigorously moving. That must have taken a lot of exercise, and it was so synchronized too,” said Roberts.
Another audience member, Ms. Myszkal, a trained ballet dancer, was also amazed by the women dancers. She was very impressed by the dance within the show, especially the physicality, like the turns and the jumps.
Another student with Dr. Roberts said he thought attending the show helped him gain a better understanding of Chinese culture. He had spent about two and-a-half weeks in China so was shocked to see “the guys came out with this hammer and sickle shirts on” because he didn’t think that particular scene could be shown in China.
Please see DivinePerformingArts.org for more information.
