NEW YORK—No words could express the emotions evoked by the dancers of the Divine Performing Arts (DPA) Chinese New Year Splendor, held on January 25—the eve of the Chinese New Year of the Ox.
That’s according to Mrs. Paul, who was at the afternoon performance at the world-renowned Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, with granddaughter Amelia. “She is totally enjoying it.”
“The costumes are absolutely magnificent, the way the dancers move is in such beautiful balance and harmony, it´s everything that we expected and more.”
Mrs. Paul owns an art gallery in New Jersey featuring many works of beautiful waterfalls and other art with a lot of Eastern and Asian influence. Since this is the world of art that she is drawn to, Mrs. Paul said she was “particularly enjoying taking in some of this wonderful [Chinese] culture.”
While it is in classical Chinese dance that the artists of Divine Performing Arts have their foundational training, performances include Chinese ethnic and folk dance producing a unique vision of Chinese traditional culture.
Both Mrs. Paul and Amelia liked the dance, Welcoming Spring, most of all. “The costumes were magnificent and ”Amelia thought the dancers looked like the cherry blossoms themselves. We were quite fascinated by the coloration,” Mrs. Paul said.
In this piece, the dancers use bright, fluttering fans as an extension of themselves to create a festive floral scene.
Visually speaking, Mrs. Paul thought the show was artistically amazing.
“I think it is on a very, very high scale, because the synchronizing of the dancers and their extreme balance, and how they move so magnificently, the colors are spectacular. It’s very, very magical, both visually and certainly the audio ... the drums are exhilarating, you feel that pounding, and it is also very spiritual.”
DPA audiences are transported to another world in state-of-the-art visuals of blossoming landscapes, majestic palaces, rustic temples—enhancing the dances that call for leaps and spins with vivacious flair.
“Oh, we’re going home to try some of them,” said Mrs. Paul laughing. “We´ll have to practice for a very, very long time, that’s for sure. But they are very disciplined, very structured, and even the young child ... It was amazing, how they have such incredible balance, dignity, elegance and grace.
“I don’t think there are enough words in any language that could express the movements and the emotions that they evoke.”
Please see DivinePerformingArts.org for more information.
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