WASHINGTON—Novelist and playwright, Ms. Gelmi, was at the Divine Performing Arts (DPA) New Year Spectacular presented at the Kennedy Center Opera House on Feb. 13.
Ms. Gelmi has published two novels. A journalist of 20 years, Ms. Gelmi has written for national and international newspapers and taught creative writing.
“I embrace the arts. I love dance and this was a ‘bravura’ performance. The virtuosity of these dancers—it just doesn’t get any better. I mean the technical expertise of these dancers—it just doesn’t get any better.
“The first thing was the virtuosity of the dancers and then, because I am aware of people who practice Falun Dafa: … oh I don’t know how you explain it, but that kind of peaceful perfection emanating from them, and I think I was getting it. I was [sitting] way up in [a] box. … It gave me a perspective of everything, which I appreciated.
“I loved the colors, and colors are so important—the saturation of colors and the color values. I was interested in seeing how they played against each other and the overall feel of them.
“And then it was interesting the complementarity of the backdrop, the computer animation ... and how the text [shown on the backdrop translated] the singing ... So it was all very good.
“I think my favorite performer was the woman … playing [the erhu, a Chinese two-stringed instrument]. That was unbelievable. And the modulation she did, and how she segued from one note to another, but just so smoothly. … It was just so perfectly melded, one note to another. I was surprised.
“This is really classical Chinese dance. It’s nothing modern. This is really the purest form of real wholesome entertainment. And I just didn’t know what to expect. … I wanted to be totally surprised, and I was. It was beautiful because it’s traditional. There was everything—just the perfect thing to take every member of the family [to see] … The whole thing was just very pure and beautiful.
Classical Chinese dance has its foundation in China’s divinely inspired culture. It has its own complete set of training methods rich in bearing and form including spectacular dives, leaps, and spins—a cultural tradition that imbues a dancer’s movements with expressive power.
“[The dancers] are quite good, and you know the other thing I kept on thinking was: These people in no way are under-rehearsed. I mean, you could really tell they had enough time to get it down perfectly. … I know that this [company] took a whole year, and it shows. They are not over-rehearsed either. … It was just perfect.”
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Divine Performing Arts. Please see DivinePerformingArts.org for more information.
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