January 31, 2009

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Colorado Sheriff, Silver Gutierrez and Mrs. Gutierrez attended the internationally acclaimed Divine Performing Arts Chinese New Year Spectacular. (The Epoch Times)

(Clearwisdom.net) DENVER--Colorado Sheriff Silver Gutierrez and Mrs. Gutierrez attended the internationally acclaimed Divine Performing Arts Chinese New Year Spectacular in Denver on Friday Jan. 30, at the Buell Theatre in the Denver Performing Arts Complex. Sheriff Gutierrez described the show as wonderful.

"It was wonderful, the whole choreography was amazing, they were in rather good shape, all of them. All the acrobats--all the maneuvers that they would make, it was fantastic, it was wonderful to see."

The aerial movements of classical Chinese dance contain a wealth of high-flying dives, dexterous leaps, and diverse spins. Classical Chinese dance has its own complete set of training methods in foundational skills, a strict regimen for perfecting bearing and form, and means of training for skill sets such as jumps, turns, and flips, as well as extremely demanding aerial techniques, culminating in an enormous dance system.

Commenting on the aspects of the show that touched his heart, Sheriff Gutierrez said: "Well, you know the message that we got, and we were talking about this, was the whole ... we believe it was a Buddhist message that was there in the show, and we were kind of amazed that some of the ... they were talking about atheism and how it was wrong. Wow, I was shocked that they were even saying this, you know, coming from a communist country. To me it was almost like, it was hard to describe, but I liked it. I liked to see that because it shows you that some people are changing."

There are spiritual values conveyed in the performances of the Divine Performing Arts. The dance "The Udumbara's Bloom" uses the legend of the Udumbara flower which blossoms only once every three thousand years. Rich with spiritual import, its unfolding is said to herald the coming of a great sage or enlightened being. True to the legend's origins, these bejeweled dancers take inspiration from the Buddhist Dunhuang caves of Western China as well as Indian dance in a sumptuous display of reverent beauty.

Mrs. Gutierrez said the show was beautiful and commented that the performers, "stand up for what they think is right."

Divine Performing Arts, a New York-based performance company founded by leading Chinese artists, is seeking to revive China's traditional culture and present it to audiences around the world through Chinese classical dance and music.

A Moving Piece

Mr. Seavey works in the Aerospace Industry. He also saw the Divine Performing Arts show in Denver and was particularly moved by the piece "Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution."

"The last one, where the gentleman was killed, was very moving. You could see the emotion of the loss, but he was finally raised up again."

Oppression is a painful reality for many millions of people in China today, as witnessed by an innocent family whose father is persecuted for practicing Falun Dafa, a traditional spiritual discipline. Theirs is the human face of the countless tragic, broken lives in China we seldom hear about. The fantastic scenes that ultimately unfold in this piece present a message of hope and bespeak of a longstanding Chinese belief that good people are ultimately rewarded, even if not in this lifetime.

Mr. Ambrose, 'pretty special and unique--we enjoyed it.' (The Epoch Times)

"This one is pretty special and unique"

Mr. Ambrose, who works as a coach at an indoor soccer facility, was another audience member who enjoyed the show, finding it very creative. "The show is extremely colorful, it's artistic, it's really fun, and very creative as well."

"We do a lot of different Chinese celebrations and at different locations, and this one is pretty special and unique--we enjoyed it."