TORONTO—“It was about love and hope and rejuvenation,” said Mrs. McBride, owner of an award-winning spa in Kitchener, Ontario. She was describing the Divine Performing Arts show which she attended at the John Bassett Theatre with her husband on Tuesday.
“I thought it was very inspirational and it gave us great hope for the future. It was just a beautiful cultural experience for me to understand [the Chinese] culture better. And I thought it was just fabulous. I loved it,” Mrs. McBride said.
“It doesn’t matter what culture you come from we all want hope, right?” said Mr. McBride.
“Any culture you’re from you want hope and you want to see a better future and it just gave you that, it gave you hope for something better. It was beautiful, I loved it. I think it was fabulous,” Mrs. McBride added.
Mrs. McBride was especially impressed by the demeanour of the dancers.
“I think the gentleness and the kindness that you saw in the dancers, and in their faces and their true joy. There’s just something about them — you could tell they have a peace in their hearts and a joy for what they do, and I love that.”
She also enjoyed tenor Hong Ming’s rendition of Rest In Knowing.
“The [tenor] was amazing. And I think my favourite dance was the chopsticks. That one was pretty amazing. And the flower one was phenomenal.”
Mrs. McBride was referring to a dance called The Udumbara’s Bloom. According to Buddhism, Udumbara flowers, which bloom every 3,000 years, herald the coming of a great sage or enlightened being. In the past several years, Udumbara flowers have been seen in many countries.
“You felt like you were part of it and you were there. The flower one you felt truly like spring — like joy and renewal and rejuvenation. It was fabulous,” said Mrs. McBride.
She added that the show was “very peaceful and joyful", with the performers coming from a “place of love and integrity.”
“I just thought it was wonderful. I walk away feeling peace in my heart and hope for better things. I know 2009 is going to be a better year and this just reiterated it to me. It’s just a universal thing and I think the more you spread the joy and the message of just being kind and loving unconditionally and not judging and just accepting everybody then it is contagious and it will just continue to grow. I think we need these types of messages and I’m so glad to see so many different cultures here getting this message and hopefully it will inspire them to feel at peace and just go out and be kind to one another and love each other.”
By way of traditional performing techniques, DPA brings to life China’s divinely-inspired classical culture along with the universal ideals that shaped it, such as goodness, beauty, harmony, and self-improvement. Mrs. McBride praised this quality in the show.
“It was about being obedient to your parents, about loving the planet, about loving each other and those where the types of things I think every parent wants to instill in their child, or coworkers or anyone. I thought it was wonderful. I thought it had great messages and I think that anybody would love it. It doesn’t matter what your age is you can learn something through dance. It’s a universal language. You don’t have to understand any language to understand dance.”
Divine Performing Arts will take the stage once more in Toronto on Wednesday evening before moving on to New York City’s famed Radio City Music Hall. Divine Performing Arts has two other dance companies currently touring in the United States.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Divine Performing Arts 2009 World Tour. For more information visit www.divineperformingarts.org
