SAN FRANCISCO—Divine Performing Arts’ (DPA) Chinese New Year Spectacular show was performed on Wednesday night at the War Memorial Opera House—one of the most beautiful and technologically advanced performing arts centers in the world.
DPA brought to life traditional themes from China’s 5,000-year-long history, and portrayed universal ideals such as goodness, beauty, purity, and harmony.
“It seems like there was a lot of thought put into every detail and was pared with the culture and with the teaching of the culture,” said Ms. Dengler, a music teacher.
People once believed Chinese culture to be a gift from the heavens. DPA has captured the spirit and substance of pre-modern China’s classical culture, exploring themes once known as Shen Zhou or Land of the Divine.
“There were a lot of scenes with spiritual undertone to it. Especially in the songs, I found the message clear,” Ms. Dengler said.
And while the pages of Chinese history are filled with legends about exemplary women, perhaps no one managed to fulfill the Confucian duties of service to one’s parents and one’s country as the heroine Mulan, depicted in one of the programs “Mulan Joins the Battle.”
“I’m sure that the comedy about Mulan being a Disney, basically portrayed through Disney was all felt by the audience. That kind of showed how we really receive our interpretation of the culture,” said Ms. Dengler.
“In this piece Mulan is more genuine and more representative of the Chinese culture, which I enjoyed immensely.”
And according to show organizers the purpose of the show was not only to provide the audiences with an artistic feast, but also give a greater sense of meaning in life as portrayed in China’s culture.
“I definitely was struck when the emcees talked about how the main purpose of the show is to keep the culture alive, and I think that’s really part in the show today, especially with the Chinese government suppressing some aspects of its history.
“I think that it’s definitely important to keep it, to keep the culture alive and not skew things that are really important to their culture.”
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Divine Performing Arts International Tour.
For more information, please see divineperformingarts.org
DPA brought to life traditional themes from China’s 5,000-year-long history, and portrayed universal ideals such as goodness, beauty, purity, and harmony.
“It seems like there was a lot of thought put into every detail and was pared with the culture and with the teaching of the culture,” said Ms. Dengler, a music teacher.
People once believed Chinese culture to be a gift from the heavens. DPA has captured the spirit and substance of pre-modern China’s classical culture, exploring themes once known as Shen Zhou or Land of the Divine.
“There were a lot of scenes with spiritual undertone to it. Especially in the songs, I found the message clear,” Ms. Dengler said.
And while the pages of Chinese history are filled with legends about exemplary women, perhaps no one managed to fulfill the Confucian duties of service to one’s parents and one’s country as the heroine Mulan, depicted in one of the programs “Mulan Joins the Battle.”
“I’m sure that the comedy about Mulan being a Disney, basically portrayed through Disney was all felt by the audience. That kind of showed how we really receive our interpretation of the culture,” said Ms. Dengler.
“In this piece Mulan is more genuine and more representative of the Chinese culture, which I enjoyed immensely.”
And according to show organizers the purpose of the show was not only to provide the audiences with an artistic feast, but also give a greater sense of meaning in life as portrayed in China’s culture.
“I definitely was struck when the emcees talked about how the main purpose of the show is to keep the culture alive, and I think that’s really part in the show today, especially with the Chinese government suppressing some aspects of its history.
“I think that it’s definitely important to keep it, to keep the culture alive and not skew things that are really important to their culture.”
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Divine Performing Arts International Tour.
For more information, please see divineperformingarts.org
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