CHICAGO—“See how the pig was sleeping in the story and he was supposed to be protecting the monk!” said Chicago resident Ms. Y. Wang enthusiastically about one of the dances in the Divine Performing Arts (DPA) show Saturday evening at Chicago’s Civic Opera House.
Originally from Taiwan, Ms. Wang said the The Monkey King Triumphs was a story she grew up with and brought back to her interesting memories.
A monkey-face immortal with supernormal power in the famous Chinese novel Journey to the West, the Monkey King, together with the Pig and Sandy, escorted their teacher, the Monk Tan Sanzang, all the way to India to obtain the Buddhist scripture. Their journal was riddled with difficulties for testing their determination.
High leaps, somersaults, and other difficult movements in the ‘Monkey King’ dance offer the audience an experience of classical Chinese dance at its best.
The DPA 2009 World Tour also features a selection of dance and music that focus on the lyrical.
The performance of the two-string traditional Chinese instrument erhu and the solo of tenor Hong Ming were singled out by Mr. N. Niu from Northern China, who said that Hong Ming’s singing really moved him.
He and his friend Dale agreed that they needed to tell more of their Chinese friends to come and see the show.
Commenting on the show in general, Ms. Wang said it is diverse and addresses both China’s past and present.
“It’s not all about one specific aspect it covers all our religions, as well as our cultural beliefs, our history, and the last piece [Persecuted on a Sacred Path] is really more like the current events, so it really is like a full spectrum of what is really going on with the Chinese from the past to the current.”
Please see DivinePerformingArts.org for more information.
Originally from Taiwan, Ms. Wang said the The Monkey King Triumphs was a story she grew up with and brought back to her interesting memories.
A monkey-face immortal with supernormal power in the famous Chinese novel Journey to the West, the Monkey King, together with the Pig and Sandy, escorted their teacher, the Monk Tan Sanzang, all the way to India to obtain the Buddhist scripture. Their journal was riddled with difficulties for testing their determination.
High leaps, somersaults, and other difficult movements in the ‘Monkey King’ dance offer the audience an experience of classical Chinese dance at its best.
The DPA 2009 World Tour also features a selection of dance and music that focus on the lyrical.
The performance of the two-string traditional Chinese instrument erhu and the solo of tenor Hong Ming were singled out by Mr. N. Niu from Northern China, who said that Hong Ming’s singing really moved him.
He and his friend Dale agreed that they needed to tell more of their Chinese friends to come and see the show.
Commenting on the show in general, Ms. Wang said it is diverse and addresses both China’s past and present.
“It’s not all about one specific aspect it covers all our religions, as well as our cultural beliefs, our history, and the last piece [Persecuted on a Sacred Path] is really more like the current events, so it really is like a full spectrum of what is really going on with the Chinese from the past to the current.”
Please see DivinePerformingArts.org for more information.
