‘Complex, beautiful, uplifting’

WASHINGTON—Mr. Turner, Washington lawyer and author loved every minute of the Divine Performing Art’s (DPA) Chinese New Year Spectacular at The Kennedy Center Opera House on Tuesday evening, as part of its 2009 World Tour.

“It was a terrific show, I really enjoyed it—very nicely done—just everything about it: enjoyable, high performance standard, well-produced, very professional, and quite uplifting.

“Lush, lots of colors, very packed with meaning. The costumes are fantastic, and the synchronicity of the movements, amazing,” he said.

Mr. Turner said that the stories behind each performance were inspiring and would help make the world a better place to live. He explained: “Every one of the performances is a story, and that story fits into a message. It’s an uplifting message about values and how they help change the world—make people whole.

“If you align your outer activities to your inner values, and you work to develop both and integrate them effectively, you’ll end up with a happier, more rewarding life. That’s the message that flows through the show.”

Mr. Turner noticed how the performance also uplifted and inspired the audience as a whole. “It makes them feel good! That, I can tell from the audience!”

He described his understanding that when a large group moves in perfect synchronized unison, it’s underlying message is one of community. “It’s very inspiring in terms of a sense of community ... particularly the mountain top dance [Dance of the Snow-Capped Mountain] ... They really did a heck of a job.”

In Dance of the Snow-Capped Mountain, the dancers vigorously celebrate the joys of the Tibetan steppes as they spin, stomp, and step in an extravagant gesture of welcoming. Long sleeves, sturdy boots, and colorful prayer beads capture the energy and character of these vibrant people.

“We are living in times of despair and difficulty, and my own sense is that we’re very much at the point that a caterpillar is just as it turns into a butterfly. It feels very icky, I would suspect, at least projecting as a caterpillar, and everybody, day to day, feels pretty icky. But if you get the premise that this is all a process of transformation into something that’s actually more complex, more beautiful, and more uplifting—which is the message that this show is telling us—then your own way of relating to it can change.”

Commenting on the deepest meaning of the show for him: “Truth, and compassion, and caring—is a positive message, an attempt to move the subjective, organic nature of life into a core place, along with the object of material nature of life,” he said. It’s an attempt to—the value’s they are articulating—is an attempt to have people actually feel and experience things as well as think and analyze about things.”

  For more information, please see DivinePerformingArts.org