Falun Dafa Minghui.org www.minghui.org PRINT

Mainland Chinese Immigrant: DPA Portrays Authentic Chinese Culture (Photos)

January 12, 2009 |  

(Clearwisdom.net) In the evening on January 9, the Divine Performing Arts New York Company presented its second show at the packed John Bassett Theatre in Toronto. Many new Chinese immigrants said that the shows offered a rare opportunity for them to learn about authentic Chinese culture.


DPA audience at the John Bassett Theater


The performers greeted the audience

Ms. Zhang immigrated to Canada from Guangdong five years ago. She brought her nine-year-old daughter to see the show. She said that the show was very beautiful and gave a good overview of the history of China. "It was very deep and portrayed traditional Chinese culture from many perspectives."

Her particular favorite was the Erhu solo as she felt "that [instrument] is real tradition."

The show has several dance numbers that enact Chinese legends. While Ms. Zhang's daughter usually doesn't like performing arts, she was fond of the DPA.

Mr. Liu has been in Canada for more than four years and he saw the show last year. Today he brought his mother who had just come from China to visit him. Both Mr. Liu and his mother loved the number "Monkey King Triumphs." Liu said that the dancing, music, backdrop, and props told a clear story that "both Chinese and Western audiences can understand very well. They did a great job." This piece portrayed one of the Chinese history's most beloved characters.

Mr. Liu was also deeply impressed by the costumes and the backdrop. "The costume design for each number is unique and reflects the ethnic groups in China very well. The animated backdrop provided an outstanding background with perfect color matching. Amazingly, there was not even a single mistake. The dancers, the orchestra, the backdrop ... they just matched each other so well."

Mr. Liu's mother was very happy to see such a feast of traditional Chinese culture.

Ms. Tian is a Chinese international student at the University of Toronto. She said she learned many things she'd never heard of in China.

She came to Canada just a few months ago and learned about the show from a friend. She said that she loved everything about the show: the dancing was exquisite, the costumes were bright and beautiful, the music was moving, and there were so many different instruments.

"I especially liked the 'Dance of the Yi' which was so graceful and their costumes are very unique," said Ms. Tian, "This is a rare opportunity to appreciate great dancing and music. I hope I can see it again."

One piece is called "Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution" It portrays a Falun Gong practitioner family enduring the persecution in China. The husband is tortured to death for following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and then saved to heaven. It portrays the suffering of countless families during the persecution, the unyielding spirit of practitioners, and the principle that "Good will be rewarded and evil will meet retribution."

Ms. Tian said that she knew no one who was a Faun Gong practitioner when she was in China. "The content portraying Falun Gong was different from what I heard in China. Here you can learn many things you have no way of finding out about and you will also discover issues that you never realized before."