ST. LOUIS—Members of the St. Louis education and law fields attended the Divine Performing Arts (DPA) show in St. Louis at the lovely Touhill Performing Arts Center on Friday, Feb. 6.
Mr. Tate, a national program leader for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said, “It’s a beautiful show, really enjoyed it, full of energy.”
Mr. Tate is interested in getting youth involved in community efforts. His work for Cooperative State Research Education has led to educating youth involved in the USDA’s outreach program and has led to real community problems being solved by its youngest citizens.
And his wife, Mrs. Tate, an elementary school teacher, said, “It’s very nice, very soft, the women are very graceful, the colors are very pretty. I liked it all, It’s amazing how the similarities are there between the cultures.”
DPA presents classical Chinese dance and music in gloriously colorful and exhilarating shows. An art form some three millennia old, Chinese dance is refreshingly dynamic and expressive. Ancient legends and heroic figures come to life through its leaps, spins, and delicate gestures.
Mr. Tate liked the Tibetan dance a lot because of its high energy, and he would recommend the show to their friends the next day.
The Dance of the Snow-Capped Mountain celebrates the joys of the Tibetan steppes as the dancers spin, stop, and step in their long sleeves, study boots, and colorful prayer beads. The dance captures the energy of these vibrant people.
Of note to the couple were the projected backdrops. “The use of the video was fantastic, good idea, very creative,“ said Mrs. Tate, while Mr. Tate described them as ”quite beautiful, magnificent.”
Some of the backdrops begin as a painting, some are created digitally. Many are animated, allowing flower petals to sweep gently across fields and snow to softly fall. During show time, each is manually operated to integrate precisely with the rhythms of the performance.
Attornies Mr. and Mrs. Wilson attended the show Friday night as well. “I think the show is spectacular, I love it, it’s so colorful,” Mrs. Wilson said enthusiastically.
“It’s unique, and I think that it’s important that people see these stories,” she continued. She also said that all the dances were very easy to understand and that complemented their grandeur.
Mr. Wilson appreciated the Yi dance [Dance of the Yi] in particular. It “was very interesting because it was very colorful and it showed the people of China who are of a ethnic minority group.”
The Dance of the Yi depicts one of China’s largest ethnic groups. The Yi are known for their passion about music and dance. The Yi seize almost every occasion to “dance out” their feelings in everyday life.
Commenting on these kind of pieces, Mrs. Wilson added: “It’s so much fun to see the dancing, it just it makes you happy.”
She also noted a dance that led her to opposite feelings: “It made me cry too, so you know if you cry and you laugh, you know you’re there—perfect!
The dance that made Mrs. Wilson cry was the scene Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution in which an innocent father is persecuted for practicing Falun Dafa, a traditional spiritual discipline.
“I thought it was so beautiful after the character died, the screen brought in the story, and then the real people came right up. At that second—that’s when I got the chill right down my back, and that’s when I cried, and I thought: fantastic.”
For more information please visit DivinePerformingArts.org
