Divine Performing Arts Graces Huntsville with Traditional Chinese Culture

(Clearwisdom.net) Divine Performing Arts (DPA) returned this year to Huntsville at the Von Braun Center Concert Hall on February 6. DPA is a New York-based performance company founded by leading Chinese artists who seek to revive and celebrate traditional Chinese culture and present it to audiences around the world. The shows performed by DPA highlight various dynasties and areas of China, different art forms, and different traditional themes, including beauty, harmony, and spirituality.

The audience showed its appreciation with thunderous applause and a standing ovation. Many of the audience members also verbally acknowledged its visual and intrinsic beauty when they stopped to give their impressions of the show.

Ms. Anderson is a VP for a global charity organization. She graciously stopped to give her impression. "I [have] never seen anything like it before. It was just unique. I learned a lot I didn't know before ... especially about the history and traditions of China."

What Ms. Anderson responded most strongly to were the costumes. "The costumes caught my eye--just extravagant! The colors, the designs, the flow of the sleeves and the dresses, that was my favorite! With the movement, it was awesome!" She went on to say, "It was all brand new to me. I was a dancer [while] growing up, but my costumes didn't look anything like that. It's so rich with history; it's unbelievable! And the stories, oh, I could just sit and listen ..."

When asked what messages she got from seeing the show, she replied, "I think the message was all about courtesy and respect, which was the underlying factor [in] the songs. It's just a beautiful life. I think that was the underlying message. Just appreciate everyday."

University Art Coordinator: "It Was a Visual Feast!"

Dr. Church is an artist, art instructor, and art coordinator at a local university. She enthusiastically shared her impressions of and reactions to the show, "Very beautiful! Very, very beautiful show! I have studied art most of my life, but I don't know anything about Chinese art, unfortunately." About the DPA's emphasis on traditional Chinese culture, she went on to say, "I liked that it was based on Chinese literature and legend. I like to study all cultures. As I said, I have studied art almost all of my life, and the stories behind the art are most interesting to me. I have read a little bit about Buddha. I just thought it was all very interesting." And, "I think anytime we study other people and learn about each other and learn respect and tolerance for each other's culture, that's always beneficial. I think ignorance brings misunderstanding. And I think all cultures have beautiful things about them."

Regarding other aspects of the show, she could relate to the work that goes into producing a show of this caliber. "My daughter is a theater person--theater teacher and director. So I have a little bit of appreciation of the work that went into this. I thought it was beautiful, spectacular! The dancing was so graceful, so lovely. I think the dancers were more graceful than any ballerina I have ever seen! It was a visual feast, a feast for the eyes!" And, "The music was beautiful; the orchestra was beautiful. I liked the blend of the Western instruments and the traditional Chinese instruments. I thought it was lovely-- just a beautiful performance."

Dr. Church, drawing on her experience as an artist, thought that the use of color was amazing. "The colors complemented and enhanced each other. The colors were fantastic; the colors of the costumes were fantastic. The costumes made use of a lot of opposites. We study color by the color wheel, and when you put two opposites together, they intensify each other. I noticed the costumes made use of a lot of that, so they looked brighter. I thought the costumes were absolutely beautiful."

In conclusion, Dr. Church said, "A visual feast for the eyes, it's just very beautiful!"

Dr. Yates: "It Gives Us Lots of Hope for the Possibilities of the Future"

Dr. Mary Ruth Yates is an assistant superintendent of the Huntsville schools. Dr. Yates welcomed the DPA's 2009 World Tour to the Von Braun Center Concert Hall. In her speech, she thanked the New York-based dance company for the "creativity provided" and for the discovery and renewal of humanity's true, rightful heritage portrayed in classical dance, music, song, and story-based drama.

Dr. Yates also gave her impression of the show, "It was very wonderful! My husband, Bob, and I very much enjoyed everything. I think the grace, perhaps if I had to use one word, in addition to the energy and the skill. [It] would be the grace I'm totally blown away with. They made it look so effortless. And it was wonderful to see, it was almost like the sea."

While it is in classical Chinese dance that the DPA performers have their foundational training, the company's performances also include Chinese ethnic and folk dance. This makes for a unique vision of Chinese traditional culture that is both faithful and innovative.

Dr. Yates went on to say, "If I had one wish, I wish I could have brought all the students tonight and filled the auditorium, because we've talked--as an English teacher many years ago--we talked about how the themes in literature show that all of us are ... basically human, [that] humans are the same."

DPA performances convey profound messages based on values that are derived from ancient Chinese traditions that would apply just as effectively in the modern world--to be truthful, compassionate, and forbear.

"We saw you reach back and touch the past, it gives us lots of hope for the possibilities of the future. So thank you so very much; we're very glad you are back this year."

Source: http://theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/11619/

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