TAINAN, Taiwan—The hit of all major cities in the world, Divine Performing Arts (DPA) had its final show in the Performance Hall, Tainan Municipal Cultural Center in Tainan on the evening of Feb. 23.
Qiu Sulan, President of the Women Association in Tainan City, said that the artistic measure of DPA seemed able to combine elements of heaven and those of earth. She used adjectives to describe it like: wonderful, magnificent, superb, and marvelous.
Ms. Qiu watched the show with supervisors in the Women Association. She said: “Every program was very good. It’s worth the trip. The theme of many of the programs was gods. The postures of dancers were like those of gods--wonderful and beautiful.
She used a particular program to make her point. The Udumbara’s Bloom, the flower only blooms every 3000 years. And only when the Buddha comes down from heaven to save people will the flower bloom. I’m yearning for that.”
She literally felt that that vignette had a profound meaning. She said that when she saw the udumbara flower blooms on the palm of the Buddha’s hand, all of a sudden, she was quite flushed. She felt like her soul was being saved.
“I think many programs represented the theme of gods, like The Monkey King Triumphs, in which the monkey king exerted his divine powers to defeat the demons.”
The protagonist of the story The Monkey King Triumphs is a Buddhist monk. He journeys to find sacred writings and is helped along the way by various creatures, including the Monkey King who helps him overcome worldly temptations.
Ms. Qiu also mentioned The Poet’s Vision, and its tremendous artistic design--also a piece about the divine. In it poet Li Bai, perhaps the most famous poet of the Tang Dynasty, is visited by heavenly dancers. When he awakens from the reverie, he is inspired to write a masterpiece.
In conclusion Ms. Qiu said that it was difficult to find performances this good. “I want to watch it again in the future.”
For more information, please visit DivinePerformingArts.org
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