CUPERTINO, Calif.—Jan, an international folk dance instructor and retired chemistry teacher, attended the Divine Performing Arts (DPA) Chinese New Year Spectacular at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts. “I liked the movements and I like the dance—the whole thing has come together, and it’s very nice. So, I am glad we came.”
“I’ve taught dance for fifty years now,” Jan said. “This is a nice, nice production of international folk dance. Each piece is different and so you have different feelings for the different pieces and that comes across from the performers to the audience.”
She noted that the historical nature probably is the nicest part, the continuity of the old things that history brings, and it was brought very well into the show. It brings about nice feelings.
The Divine Performing Arts mission is to rediscover and renew humanity’s true, rightful cultural heritage based on truth and beauty. The dancers have foundational training in classical Chinese dance and the DPA’s performances also include Chinese ethnic and folk dance, making for an utterly unique vision of Chinese traditional culture that is faithful and refreshing.
Jan noted, “We have with us a professional Chinese dance teacher, and she is enjoying the dances as much as we are.”
“It was a colorful, fabulous performance,” Mr. Mendez, a writer of technical books, said about the “Spectacular.”
He was struck by the “color and the variety and the quality of the dancing—the choreography—everything. It was fabulous.
“I have learned more about the Asian and the Chinese cultures than I knew before. I have friends who are of Chinese origin—many friends.”
While it is in classical Chinese dance that the artists of DPA have their foundational training, the company’s performances also include Chinese ethnic and folk dance. This gives a unique vision of Chinese traditional culture.
“I can’t say that I would prefer any particular piece, but the closing performance, ‘Knowing the True Picture Offers Ultimate Hope,’ was beautiful, very beautiful,” said Mr. Mendez.
Mr. Mendez also enjoyed the live orchestra, which is combines classical Western with traditional Chinese instruments, enabling its compositions to have Western orchestral music with Chinese qualities.
“The combination of the orchestra and the performers, the singers and dancers was very well put together. The directors, the choreographers, and the musicians were all well in sync. And you could tell that there were countless hours of hard work on the part of everybody,” he said.
He shared what he felt about the DPA performance saying, “Exuberance—it built up as the performances went on. I would definitely come again—it was beautiful.”
The guiding mission of DPA is to rediscover and renew humanity’s true, rightful cultural heritage. DPA is a nonprofit organization that seeks to breathe new life into traditional Chinese culture.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Divine Performing Arts 2009 World Tour. For more information please visit DivinePerformingArts.org