DETROIT—“I was born dancing,” said Ms. Wiergba. She has danced since she was a young girl, and her daughters were all professionals in show business. She still dances today, and she is in her nineties. She saw Divine Performing Arts last year, and came back with one daughter, Ms. Labadie, to see it again.
Ms. Labadie “loves to ballroom dance.” She started when she was five years old, and danced into adulthood, “living in New York at the time, entertaining in the clubs, and in Canada, and in all those type of places, with my sisters, singing and dancing.” Her mother interjected, “I got books with their pictures when they were little up to when they were older. I liked when they did the Spanish dancing.” Ms. Labadie recorded her mother’s dance career in a book, too. She wrote a book about her called “I was Born to Dance.”
These two responded deeply to Divine Performing Arts. The best way to convey their feelings may be in their own words:
Ms. Wiergba said, “It was wonderful, it was absolutely wonderful. They are just excellent about what they’re doing. Oh, it was just beautiful, it just reminded me of the olden days. The olden days were so different than what they have today. That’s what we want. I was 94 last year when I came here.”
She continued, “Everything that they did was so refined, so graceful, so like you don’t see a lot of that today... reminds me of my memories way back. And it’s still in there, you know, it’s so beautiful, the costumes!”
Ms. Labadie said, “It takes you back, is what she’s saying, I believe. It just takes you back to the beginning of us.”
Ms. Wiergba said, “It’s that era, that real.. I like that era.”
Her daughter interjected, “You stay within yourself and you’re within that era and you go forward, but it’s… this is what this presented tonight, I think, is that you are back and you go forward to ... the end.”
Ms. Wiergba continued, “Yes, you feel it, you feel everything, you sit there, and you can’t go to sleep or anything. You really sit there and enjoy your soul, you know, and I love this.”
Ms. Labadie added, “You get taken by it, you just get taken by it.”
Ms. Wiergba said, “I have three daughters, and they were ballet dancers and they were in show business, and they traveled. I have three daughters, and they were traveling all over the United States, and they were dancing. I’m a dance instructor, I dance.” She knows dance well, from personal experience and from teaching.
Each had an emotional response to Classical Chinese dance. Daughter Ms. Labadie said, “Oh, wonderful, I can’t say enough. It reminds me of being back in my youth ... The gracefulness, the look of the entire cast.”
Mother Ms. Wiergba said “It was so… it’s so natural, like life used to be, and it’s still in there now. Because today everything’s naked, naked, naked. I noticed...all their costumes, I used to sew all my daughter’s costumes, I’m a seamstress too, and I still teach, and I still dance, at 94.”
The most striking thing about the performance to Ms. Labadie was “The youth, the youth, and the youth that were in the show, not just, I know there weren’t just young people in the show, but what they give to the show, you can tell that they give from their hearts when they dance, and when they perform. I mean, you’re just taken in by everything that the show has to present to us.
“I didn’t want it to end.” The lyrics evoked a strong feeling in her. She sighed deeply and said “Outstanding, outstanding, and then who also played I thought was like a harp, but wasn’t a harp, it was a Chinese violin, erhu. Yes, it was wonderful, that was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Everything was so breathtaking, the singers [and] the instrumentals.”
Ms. Wiergba interjected “Even the M.C.,” and her daughter agreed, “Yes, the introduction into every series that they did, was the gentlemen and the young lady standing out the front and introducing each one and explaining it.” Then both praised the digital backdrops, which blend with the living dancers.
“The way they synchronize together is what she’s saying, she was impressed so much with that,” said daughter Ms. Labadie. “But the talent that’s there is probably the main thing. I think the talent is just outstanding. The talent that we saw on the stage, whether it be the vocalist, or whether it be the pianist, she was also, we can’t forget about her, and certainly the orchestra, all the talent that was there came together so wonderfully well.”
She said it was most definitely a world class show.
Sound of Hope Radio contributed to this article.
Please see http://www.DivinePerformingArts.org for more information.
Ms. Labadie “loves to ballroom dance.” She started when she was five years old, and danced into adulthood, “living in New York at the time, entertaining in the clubs, and in Canada, and in all those type of places, with my sisters, singing and dancing.” Her mother interjected, “I got books with their pictures when they were little up to when they were older. I liked when they did the Spanish dancing.” Ms. Labadie recorded her mother’s dance career in a book, too. She wrote a book about her called “I was Born to Dance.”
These two responded deeply to Divine Performing Arts. The best way to convey their feelings may be in their own words:
Ms. Wiergba said, “It was wonderful, it was absolutely wonderful. They are just excellent about what they’re doing. Oh, it was just beautiful, it just reminded me of the olden days. The olden days were so different than what they have today. That’s what we want. I was 94 last year when I came here.”
She continued, “Everything that they did was so refined, so graceful, so like you don’t see a lot of that today... reminds me of my memories way back. And it’s still in there, you know, it’s so beautiful, the costumes!”
Ms. Labadie said, “It takes you back, is what she’s saying, I believe. It just takes you back to the beginning of us.”
Ms. Wiergba said, “It’s that era, that real.. I like that era.”
Her daughter interjected, “You stay within yourself and you’re within that era and you go forward, but it’s… this is what this presented tonight, I think, is that you are back and you go forward to ... the end.”
Ms. Wiergba continued, “Yes, you feel it, you feel everything, you sit there, and you can’t go to sleep or anything. You really sit there and enjoy your soul, you know, and I love this.”
Ms. Labadie added, “You get taken by it, you just get taken by it.”
Ms. Wiergba said, “I have three daughters, and they were ballet dancers and they were in show business, and they traveled. I have three daughters, and they were traveling all over the United States, and they were dancing. I’m a dance instructor, I dance.” She knows dance well, from personal experience and from teaching.
Each had an emotional response to Classical Chinese dance. Daughter Ms. Labadie said, “Oh, wonderful, I can’t say enough. It reminds me of being back in my youth ... The gracefulness, the look of the entire cast.”
Mother Ms. Wiergba said “It was so… it’s so natural, like life used to be, and it’s still in there now. Because today everything’s naked, naked, naked. I noticed...all their costumes, I used to sew all my daughter’s costumes, I’m a seamstress too, and I still teach, and I still dance, at 94.”
The most striking thing about the performance to Ms. Labadie was “The youth, the youth, and the youth that were in the show, not just, I know there weren’t just young people in the show, but what they give to the show, you can tell that they give from their hearts when they dance, and when they perform. I mean, you’re just taken in by everything that the show has to present to us.
“I didn’t want it to end.” The lyrics evoked a strong feeling in her. She sighed deeply and said “Outstanding, outstanding, and then who also played I thought was like a harp, but wasn’t a harp, it was a Chinese violin, erhu. Yes, it was wonderful, that was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Everything was so breathtaking, the singers [and] the instrumentals.”
Ms. Wiergba interjected “Even the M.C.,” and her daughter agreed, “Yes, the introduction into every series that they did, was the gentlemen and the young lady standing out the front and introducing each one and explaining it.” Then both praised the digital backdrops, which blend with the living dancers.
“The way they synchronize together is what she’s saying, she was impressed so much with that,” said daughter Ms. Labadie. “But the talent that’s there is probably the main thing. I think the talent is just outstanding. The talent that we saw on the stage, whether it be the vocalist, or whether it be the pianist, she was also, we can’t forget about her, and certainly the orchestra, all the talent that was there came together so wonderfully well.”
She said it was most definitely a world class show.
Sound of Hope Radio contributed to this article.
Please see http://www.DivinePerformingArts.org for more information.
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