Pasadena, Ca.—Divine Performing Arts (DPA) performed its second of eight shows New Years Eve at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. People from all around the Los Angeles area came to watch.
Mr. Sivanesan, a local research scientist, was impressed with the show.
“Initially I didn’t expect so much fun. Actually it was really, really nice. It was very well-organized, and really well-performed. I really liked it,” he said.
DPA’s Chinese New Year Spectacular is imbued with ancient Chinese stories that were imparted from China’s culture. When asked if he learned anything new about Chinese culture, Mr. Sivanesan said, “Yes, definitely. They are new stories [to me] and the stories tell a lot through drama. It’s really good learning.”
Mr. Sivanesan’s favorite performance was “pretty much everything. But I think the one I [really] liked was the one about predicting the future” (“Monk Ji Gong Abducts the Bride”). He continued, “It’s something very intuitive. I liked it. Overall, though, everything was great.”
The dancers in Divine Performing Arts are ethnic Chinese living in the United States. Mr. Sivanesan commented on how “remarkable” it is that they are able to retain their ethnic culture while living elsewhere.
The dances resonated with Mr. Sivanesan’s Indian heritage, “Our culture originated from dance and body movements, so we can relate a lot of things to the Chinese culture. Dance is part of our culture. All the stories are always told with a dance.”
Mr. Sivanesan could see that classical Chinese dance is quite diverse and rich.
“Chinese dance is a little more artistic and requires more effort, spins and jumping, [than Indian dancing]. In our culture there is dance, but male performers aren’t that expressive or physical. It’s simpler,” he said.
He added, “I [would] definitely recommend people to come and see this kind of show and support it. I know it’s going around the world. I would definitely recommend anyone to go and see it.”
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Divine Performing Arts International Tour.
For more information, please see divineperformingarts.org
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