NEW YORK—Watching Divine Performing Arts at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on Jan. 25, Chinese New Year’s eve, was a beautiful and emotional journey for Ms. Tansey, a makeup artist for one of the world’s top cosmetics firms.
Ms. Tansey said she cried upon seeing “the times of difficulty that Chinese people went through, the struggle between good and evil of course always, but you know the persecution just for spiritual beliefs that’s … bothers me most.”
Two of the dances performed by DPA depict the enduring spirit of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance upheld by practitioners of the Falun Gong spiritual discipline, despite nearly a decade of being persecuted in mainland China.
From these scenes Ms. Tansey said she took away a message of the value of tolerance. “We all have to be really tolerant, live together in peace ... love each other,” she said.
This kind of deep message was not necessarily what Ms. Tansey expected to be struck by. “I came to see the costumes mostly, but I love the story of the history of the Chinese culture and I have Chinese family members and friends so it was important for me to come.”
Elaborating on which costumes she liked best, Ms. Tansey was at loss to choose. “The colors that were my favorite were the white and pink costumes, the green and pink for the spring flower … All of the scenes with heaven coming in and everything being so angelic, I don’t know if that’s the right term. I thought that the costumes really matched the scene and the story that they were telling.”
The vibrant costuming is a hallmark of Divine Performing Arts shows, helping draw the audience into the world of the divine.
“I don’t have anything really to compare it to, but I have been to other ballets and productions. I think it was wonderful, and on a scale of one to ten – a twelve,” concluded Ms. Tansey with a smile.
Please see DivinePerformingArts.org for more information.
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