KITCHENER-WATERLOO, Canada—Donna, a fashion-modeling entrepreneur, was one of the theatre patrons who packed the house at Kitchener-Waterloo’s Theater in the Square on Tuesday night to witness Divine Performing Arts’ 2009 World Tour. “It was a magnificent and amazing performance!” she said.
As a fashion designer, Donna was generous in her praise of the costumes. “The silks were so amazing, very good high quality silks that just flowed and worked with the dancers so incredibly. The costumes were overwhelming and the dances were outstanding! It was a beautiful performance — just incredible! There was just so much work put into it and feeling, what a beautiful expression of the arts! Overwhelming. Overwhelming. I loved all the beautiful scenes with nature and how the costumes fit into the backdrop. It was just incredible!”
“I think one of my favorite dances was ‘Welcoming Spring’ with all the flowers coming into blossom and the way the girls performed and all the color! It seems that the flowers on the outside have the color that we humans see but it is the color of the inner soul that comes alive, and the dancers showed that. I enjoyed these colors, I enjoyed the flowers and I enjoyed just the way they danced and performed and brought it all to life so that it just became reality.”
Welcoming Spring features quick footwork, crisp movements and bursts of colour as the basis of a fan dance that personify a Chinese folk dance tradition.
“I also really enjoyed the Tibetan dancers too, they just amazing,” she added. That dance Dance of the Snow-Capped Mountain, features male dancers vigorously celebrating the joys of the Tibetan steppes as they spin, stomp, and step in an extravagant gesture of welcoming. Long sleeves, sturdy boots, and colorful prayer beads capture the energy and character of the Tibetan people in this dance.
Donna’s son, who works for a recording studio, said, “It’s outstanding, it’s hard to find the proper words to describe it that haven’t already been used a million times, but definitely it’s up to the standard, it’s spectacular. I had an overwhelming feeling, an emotional experience, you know? And it incorporated everything—pieces of comedy, family aspects etc. It was just great.”
He also was moved by the way brave people in China [Falun Gong practitioners] have stood up for their own belief even in the face of brutal persecution and was glad to see dances about this. “People are starting to be more aware of what is going on around them. Getting the message out to people is important and gives them the opportunity to think for themselves, to have independent thought.”
At the end of this interview Donna advised, “I would encourage anyone to come and see it. I think everyone should come and view these beautiful Chinese arts and the incredible culture that is being offered to us, its wonderful.”
Please see DivinePerformingArts.org for more information.
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