WASHINGTON—The last curtain call for the Divine Performing Arts Chinese New Year Spectacular show at the Kennedy Center Opera House on February 14 brought continuous applause throughout, as well as a standing ovation at the end.
All tickets were sold and nearly 100 people were on a waiting list, hoping for returned tickets. The theater started selling standing tickets that went in no time. Many people had seen the show earlier and decided to see the it again.
Among the audience was Ms. Dawn Clemens and her two daughters, Brooke and Blair Kania.
The family is well-traveled and spent years in Indonesia, China and other Asian countries. All in all, they traveled to 72 countries, so Asian culture was nothing new to the family.
However, when comparing the DPA’s traditional culture show that garnered stories from China’s 5,000-years of history, and modern day as well, Ms. Clemens said “there was a lot more modern stuff that I never saw in China.”
“The Falun [Falun Gong persecution of people who live by the principles Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance], I thought it was very interesting that they put that in. We all think it is very important in America. That would not have been something I would have seen when I was in Asia. That would not have been allowed at all.”
Ms. Blair, like so many people who have seen the DPA show or are still waiting for the opportunity to see it, was impressed that the DPA artists were mainly young Chinese people born outside China.
“I think it is wonderful they have a company here in the United States that is growing so fast so people can learn about what’s going on in China and can learn all the culture and old dance traditions because they die, they definitely die out and this is a way to keep them [alive,]” Ms. Blair was pleased to say.
She could tell that bringing Chinese culture back to life after having been almost lost for so many years was the prime mission for the DPA, “Yes, I can tell, I think they are doing a good job if they went from one or two last year to 300 this year, that’s fantastic—and all over the world.”
She thought it “fantastic” that the New York-based company visited Japan and Korea and are continuing on a world global tour to numerous cities.
Ms. Clemens daughters shared their view of what they had seen.
Young Brooke is a high school student at a Washington private school. She learned a little about China in high school and had seen shows sponsored by the Chinese communist regime.
She said, “It was a little bit different ... Most of the shows I‘ve seen there was some acrobatics.”
Before we talked to her sister Blair, she wanted us to know that the scene Mulan Joins the Battle impressed her the most, and that she learned something from this story.
Blair is on a dance team at her school, mostly hip-hop and jazz. She remembered her times abroad and said; “I also grew up in Singapore with my sister and my Mom, so I have seen some traditional Chinese dancing. But, I have never actually done it.”
She wanted us to know that she enjoyed today’s show, and that she learned some of life’s truths from it, “I really liked the lesson about respect and even the scenes where it tells us that heaven is waiting for you.”
Please see DivinePerformingArts.org for more information.
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