ROCHESTER, NY—Divine Performing Arts [DPA] 2009 World Tour opened at the popular Rochester Auditorium Theater on Saturday, February 21.
The artistic director of an Indian School of Dance and Music, Ms. Chidambaram, was also in the audience.
“It was beautiful, exhilarating and it was awesome,” she enthused. “Being a dancer myself to see such a production—such coordination and the movement, the discipline. It was awesome to watch, it was a delight.”
Ms. Chidambaram has been teaching for more than nine years; encouraging students to appreciate Indian classical dance and music as a living, breathing art form of self expression. However, primary to her method of teaching are paths of physical discipline, mental devotion and spiritual dedication.
“We are almost thirty of us here, all my students are here, and it was beautiful. It was such a learning experience for my kids. I think that any dance school should just bring everyone here and just show what it is, and what it takes to have such a production. It was beautiful.”
The lavish DPA presentation features world class performers, stunning costumes and backdrops, powerful drum rhythms and a full orchestra, inspired upon traditional values of a centuries-old China, before its erosion under communism.
“Being a dancer, I think it was so versatile and beautiful. I loved each bit, each piece. It was unique, it was very different. We were able to see such a rich culture ... it was very, very interesting and very nice.”
Story-based dance is a trademark of the New York-based DPA, and with China being home to dozens of distinctive ethnic groups, this array of material provides a rich canvas upon which to draw.
Ms. Chidambaram thrilled to all of the performances, but Welcoming Spring pulled on her heart strings. In this segment, quick footwork, crisp movement and stunning bursts of color form the basis of the women’s fan dance in a sense of sheer delight as a new season emerges.
“I think the fan dance, the most traditional I’ve seen in Chinese, and how they were able to do it with such precision. Those techniques really impressed me, it moved me a lot.”
Classical Chinese dance has its foundation in China’s divinely inspired culture, resonants within her soul. Ms. Chidambaram herself is an ardent disciple of a world renowned classical dancer and research scholar of phenomenal repute.
From age seven followed 15 years of rigorous training learning a number of techniques, passing very strict and extensive examinations in the theoretical practical aspects of classical dance. This also encompassed playing the cymbal, classical music and teacher’s training.
Of the DPA presentation, she said: “I think there’s a lot of discipline that goes behind the spiritual part of it—that’s what makes this kind of art form unique.”
“It was lovely, awesome. I think they should just go do what they’re doing now and make people understand that it’s so valuable ... to go with the rich culture and the tradition because as I was saying, all of this is kind of dying at this point, and it’s very important for us to make the next generation realize how important it is for them to keep this culture going.
“There’s a lot of other influences in all the traditions so we feel: ‘okay, we should be versatile with that too, but hold onto our tradition which is very important for us.’ I think they’re doing a marvelous job doing this and a very good job coordinating it, and it’s beautiful.”
When asked how she would score the DPA performance, she replied: “I personally do not like to score dancers. I think it’s beyond me scoring them 1-5. It was such a unique experience for me and I don’t want to score them. It was very [much] beyond that.”
One of her dance pupils highly ranked the presentation, repeating; “it was good, very graceful. It was awesome, very good.” And were there any lessons learned? “Yes, the grace and the flexibility, of course.”
The children were amazed by the gorgeously costumed dancers moving in stunning synchronized patterns.
“I like the part where they coordinated and they were all together. They all were good dancers,” were words echoed by the young dancers.
Their teacher is well-versed in performing arts having been introduced to the stage in 1989. Since then she has performed all over India, winning accolades and praise wherever she has appeared, even in the United States where she now calls home.
NTDTV contributed to the article. The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Divine Performing Arts. Please see DivinePerformingArts.org for more information.
