OTTAWA—The Divine Performing Arts (DPA) show is a veritable feast of music, dance and drama that has been wowing audiences wherever it plays, and Saturday evening’s presentation at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre was no exception.
“I can see that they are very highly trained dancers,” said Ms. Rowe, who attended the show.
“I don’t know a lot about Chinese classical dance but as a westerner, trained—I took some ballet myself—I can see that it is a highly classical form and that these dancers are very flexible, extremely graceful. Their arms are beautiful, you know, very nice balances, very good turns. It seems to be very, very well done.”
Ms. Rowe is a project manager for an association of dance companies across Canada that serves dance presenters’ needs and supports their work with the dance community and its marketplace.
In its celebration of traditional Chinese culture, New York-based DPA is the only company in the world that performs pure, strictly authentic Chinese classical dance as part of its repertoire.
The orchestra is also a “first” with its blend of Western and Chinese instruments, enabling its compositions to mine the potential of Western orchestral music and yet to be rich in Chinese qualities, something Ms. Rowe described as “wonderful.”
“It’s a treat to have a live orchestra, to hear the music live and to hear the different instruments from the Chinese tradition,” she said, adding that although the melodies were Chinese melodies, they were enjoyable for the Western ear.
Ms. Rowe was also impressed with the three solo vocalists who were accompanied by piano.
“They also sounded very classically trained to me, the baritone and soprano. The soprano’s range was very great. I thought she sounded a bit lower, almost like an alto singer but then she’s a soprano, so she has a very strong range, I thought, and beautiful songs.”
She said the colourful costumes, all of which are handmade, were a highlight of the show. “You can see that they have spared no limit to the costumes. The colours are beautiful, so that’s nice.”
A dance called “Yi Ethnic Dance” was one of her favourites pieces. The Yi people are known for their passion for music and dance and in this piece the dancers were adorned in ranbow-like “circle skirts.”
Ms. Rowe said the show’s animated backdrops added another dimension to the show.
“It’s interesting what they’ve done with the technology, to have the dancers kind of disappear and then they seem to appear in the background and then they dance away in the distance. So that’s really nicely done.”
Ms. Rowe concluded by saying that she found the show on the whole “very joyful. There is a lot of joy in it and I think it’s just conveying the beauty of the Chinese culture. It was very nice. I think it was very interesting and very well done.”
—With files from NTDTV
The Epoch Times is the proud sponsor of the Divine Performing Arts. Please see DivinePerformingArts.org for more information.
“I can see that they are very highly trained dancers,” said Ms. Rowe, who attended the show.
“I don’t know a lot about Chinese classical dance but as a westerner, trained—I took some ballet myself—I can see that it is a highly classical form and that these dancers are very flexible, extremely graceful. Their arms are beautiful, you know, very nice balances, very good turns. It seems to be very, very well done.”
Ms. Rowe is a project manager for an association of dance companies across Canada that serves dance presenters’ needs and supports their work with the dance community and its marketplace.
In its celebration of traditional Chinese culture, New York-based DPA is the only company in the world that performs pure, strictly authentic Chinese classical dance as part of its repertoire.
The orchestra is also a “first” with its blend of Western and Chinese instruments, enabling its compositions to mine the potential of Western orchestral music and yet to be rich in Chinese qualities, something Ms. Rowe described as “wonderful.”
“It’s a treat to have a live orchestra, to hear the music live and to hear the different instruments from the Chinese tradition,” she said, adding that although the melodies were Chinese melodies, they were enjoyable for the Western ear.
Ms. Rowe was also impressed with the three solo vocalists who were accompanied by piano.
“They also sounded very classically trained to me, the baritone and soprano. The soprano’s range was very great. I thought she sounded a bit lower, almost like an alto singer but then she’s a soprano, so she has a very strong range, I thought, and beautiful songs.”
She said the colourful costumes, all of which are handmade, were a highlight of the show. “You can see that they have spared no limit to the costumes. The colours are beautiful, so that’s nice.”
A dance called “Yi Ethnic Dance” was one of her favourites pieces. The Yi people are known for their passion for music and dance and in this piece the dancers were adorned in ranbow-like “circle skirts.”
Ms. Rowe said the show’s animated backdrops added another dimension to the show.
“It’s interesting what they’ve done with the technology, to have the dancers kind of disappear and then they seem to appear in the background and then they dance away in the distance. So that’s really nicely done.”
Ms. Rowe concluded by saying that she found the show on the whole “very joyful. There is a lot of joy in it and I think it’s just conveying the beauty of the Chinese culture. It was very nice. I think it was very interesting and very well done.”
—With files from NTDTV
The Epoch Times is the proud sponsor of the Divine Performing Arts. Please see DivinePerformingArts.org for more information.
