SEATTLE—Mrs. Carpine, leader and cofounder of a large non-profit environmental organization based in Seattle, was thoroughly impressed with the Divine Performing Arts (DPA) Chinese New Year Spectacular which she attended Sunday at Seattle’s Paramount Theatre.
“I loved it,” she said. “I have three daughters, they have all taken ballet and … ballroom dancing, so I was particularly interested in watching all the movements. It is very Chinese the way they express themselves and I thought it was very beautiful.”
Mrs. Carpine came to the show with Chinese friends who gave her a ticket as an eightieth birthday present.
“I came with a Chinese family. The mother is in her nineties. Her daughter wanted to give me a birthday present because I will be 80 this year. They surprised me. I didn’t know what I was coming to. I loved it. I thought it was very lovely.”
Performances by solo singers are an integral part of the DPA experience. Sunday’s show featured two tenors, a contralto and a soprano.
“I liked [the singing] very much. I really thought all four songs were very rich—their voices were very rich,” said Mrs. Carpine.
“The voices were very beautiful, and what impressed me … so often when you come to performances you don’t hear them when you are near the back, but these singers, their voices were carrying. You could really hear them.”
Mrs. Carpine appreciated and was moved by the spiritual messages in the performances.
“I still sing in choirs in the church so I can see the spirituality in your poets and your singers, of course, right away, in what they were saying,” she said.
“Just the words they were singing about life, you know. But there is a lot more pain that they are expressing from their history, I think. I didn’t know any of the stories behind the dancing.”
She was also thrilled with the orchestra, unique in that it combines Chinese and Western instruments thereby bringing together two of the world’s greatest classical music traditions.
“Oh, I was so pleased that you had a live orchestra because I go to the symphony, and last night I was at the opera. To me a live orchestra makes such a difference. First of all, they don’t play too loud for what’s going on … whereas a DJ or whatever can be overpowering. I liked that classical touch. I thought that was very first class.”
Mrs. Carpine especially enjoyed the piece, Welcoming Spring, a fan dance whose quick footwork, crisp movements, and exuberant spirit to mark the season personify China’s folk dance tradition.
Mrs. Carpine took an extra program book to give to her friend, a lobbyist for the arts in Seattle.
“I want to show her this, because I don’t know if she is familiar with this particular group. She promotes all the art groups.”
The DPA International Company will head to Portland on January 20 in the next leg of its 2009 World Tour.
For more information, please see DivinePerformingArts.org
