Art School Assistant Director Moved to Tears by Divine Performing Arts

DETROIT— “[The performance] was overwhelmingly magnificent and touching! I cried many tears, and I was inspired.”

This is how Ms. Xue described her feelings while watching Divine Performing Arts New York Company’s first of two performances at Detroit’s Ford Community & Performing Center.

Assistant director of an Oriental art school, Ms. Xue and her husband had also attended the DPA show in January 2008. She said the new programs in this season’s production “even more spectacular” than last year’s.

While a lot of movements in Chinese classical dance are quite difficult, Ms. Xue said, “these young dancers have already reached world class level. This kind of high class show made me admire them very much.

“The performers clearly and precisely expressed the essence of classical dance at a high level. I greatly admire these young dancers for giving such a high caliber and world-class performance.”

The DPA dancers were able to move the audience because they have a strong understanding of Chinese classical dance, said Ms. Xue. She explained that only when dancers truly understand and express the intrinsic substances of dance will they have the power to move audiences.

“In the dance ‘Dragon Springs Drums,’ the male performers expressed great power, skills and strength. Their expressions were rich and earth-shaking.”

She added that the dancers’ thoughts, facial expressions, and inner expressions all touched her deeply.

“The opening program, “The Five Millennia Begins” is so magnificent, so touching. After watching it, I cried. The ideas behind the production, the dance, and backdrops all fitted together perfectly. They all harmonized one another. They made it really easy for the audience to understand—very influential.”

She especially liked the “Yi Ethnic Dance,” a spirited portrait of everyday life among the Yi people, one of southern China’s largest ethnic groups.

“The costumes, dresses, and designed movements in this dance are extremely graceful. The choreographer fully took advantage of the characteristics of the Yi Ethnic apparel. They manifested the dance to be very extravagant. The use of color was very elegant, harmonious, and fitted into the numerous beautiful scenes in the backdrops.”

Ms. Xue praised the creativity of the artistic director and was impressed by the fluidity and coordination of every aspect of the performance.

“The concepts, staging and dancing were in perfect harmony,” she said. “DPA has brought Chinese culture to every corner of the world, sharing China’s 5,000 years of history. This is magnificent. I represent the Chinese people in thanking them.”

- The Epochtimes

Unveiling the Essence of Classical Chinese Dance

DURHAM, N.C.— Since the launch of the Divine Performing Arts (DPA) 2009 World Tour on Dec. 19, the DPA Touring Company has played to full houses in four cities in Florida and North Carolina.

Since 2006, the New York-based performance company has been bringing about a renaissance of China’s five-millennia-old traditional culture. Those who have seen this world-class show are struck by the unique charm of Chinese classical dance, a defining part of DPA’s production.

Inner Quality of Classical Chinese Dance

Brian Nieh, a lead dancer with DPA, said that classical Chinese dance is not merely a display of techniques such as jumps, turns, and flips.

“The difficulty of classical Chinese dance actually comes from the effectiveness of using these skills to convey inner feelings and thoughts.”

Nieh gave the example of Monk Ji Gong Abducts the Bride, a DPA dance sequence that highlights Monk Ji Gong, one of the most adored figures in Chinese history, renowned for his unorthodox manner of doing good deeds.

“Ji Gong is a deity. He will not steal a bride from someone else’s wedding just to satisfy his personal pursuit. But since he knows that a catastrophe is about to hit the village, he abducts the bride to save the villagers, leaving behind a surprising turn of events,” Nieh said.

“This typical program manifests the extensive expressiveness of Chinese classical dance, as it includes a lot of scenarios and plots that are mainly conveyed through classical Chinese dance.”

Nieh, who plays the main role in the piece, explains that a dancer has to consider what movement best depicts Ji Gong as he tells people to evacuate, what gesture exactly signals that a catastrophe is imminent, and what facial expression and physical movement can illustrate the monk’s compassion.

“This kind of emotion—you need to let the audience feel it, whether they are seated in the first row or the last row,” he said.

‘Land of the Divine’

“The ladies’ hand gestures are particularly dainty in Chinese classical dance,” said Wendy Su, who joined DPA in 2006. “For instance, in almost every dance piece, you can see the lotus palm—a fundamental gesture in classical Chinese dance.”

Classical Chinese dance has grown out of the history of China, once known to the Chinese people as the “Land of the Divine.” In the early stages, classical Chinese dance was largely passed down among the common people and members of the imperial court. Over the years, dancers rearranged, polished, and reworked it to include the systematic training recognized today.

“During every performance, we performers are devoted to making it a good show for the audience. I think the audience can see and feel it. Whenever I dance, I always need to fit into the character that I am depicting,” said Su.

Throughout the four-month touring season, each of the three Divine Performing Arts companies will perform more than ninety shows. Yet the busy schedule does not diminish the mood of the performers.

“We have toured in so many cities. After a show ends, usually it takes several hours for us to reach the next city. Sometimes there are even two performances in a day—a very packed schedule. I can probably say that I am a bit tired physically, but spiritually I feel very fulfilled and joyful, especially when I see the anticipation of the audience,” Nieh said.

“Sometimes there are even two performances in a day—a very packed schedule. I can probably say that I am a bit tired physically, but spiritually I feel very fulfilled and joyful, especially when I see the anticipation of the audience.”

- The Epochtimes

Divine Performing Arts’ ‘Choreography is amazing’ , says Professional Dance Instructor

DETROIT, Michigan— Divine Performing Arts is back in town with the now world-famous Chinese New Year Spectacular. After an almost sold-out show last year, Divine Performing Arts decided to add a second performance to their stop in the Greater Detroit Area this year.

The show has been a hit with people from all walks of life all over the world.

Amy Li is a professional dance instructor from Changchun. She came to the United States in July of 2008, after graduating from a college in Beijing. She watched the Chinese Spectacular in Michigan on Dec. 30. When asked what she thought of the show she responded by saying, “The show is great because the choreography is amazing and so are the backdrops. The whole thing is beautiful. I can tell that the dancers practice a lot; they are very professional.” Amy ended by saying that the show is very technical and authentic.

Divine Performing Arts is currently on an 80+ city world tour across 4 continents. Visit www.divineperformingarts.com to see a show schedule and to learn more about the show. With so many cities on the schedule and three dance companies touring the world, there’s sure to be one coming to a city near you.

- The Epoch Times, Dec 30, 2008

Artistic Director Pays Tribute to ‘Phenomenal’ Divine Performing Arts Show

CINCINNATI— Dr. Rudnick, the Artistic Director of a performing arts

Dr. Rudnick, an artistic director with a Cincinnati performing arts company, heaped praise on Divine Pefrorming Arts. (Courtesy NTDTV)

school in Cincinnati, attended the Divine Performing Arts show in Cincinnati on Dec. 23, and was effusive in his praise:

“It’s a beautiful show. Beautiful. It’s marvelous combination of dance, drama, music, beautiful scenes, costumes. Exceptionally well done.”

Dr. Rudnick is a nationally recognized music educator, conductor, composer and performer. He brought a lot of his students to see the show and was “very, very glad” that he did.

“This is a wonderful introduction to Americans on Chinese culture, tradition, stories, mythology. I think that seeing the show we all come away with such a greater appreciation for traditional Chinese culture, in music, and songs, and all the artists, from the choreographer, the singers, the dancers…. [It is] really performed on a really high level.”

Beauty in simplicity

“It kind of gets me in touch with some more traditional roots. I am a composer and musician. I love the sound of those Chinese folk melodies. I’m thinking about maybe even working on a piece, using some of that Chinese folk melodies based on pentatonic scales, beautiful simple scales but with a lot of emotional power. There’s a simplicity of getting back to this idea of simplicity and elegance that’s present in this marvelous performance that can inspire professional artists like myself. Sometimes in working with a lot of the modern groups, it tends to be very complicated. Things get very complicated. We have fancy instruments and complicated electronics and things like that. But it’s great to go back to simple kinds of ideas and simple forms like Chinese folk melodies. Beautiful! Beautiful! They give us new ideas and new ways of thinking of things.”

Dr. Rudnick said the orchestral music fascinating: “Combining the western instruments, and some western harmony, with Chinese folk melodies, and with the pipa and the erhu. A gorgeous, gorgeous combination. In fact, I must say that I was surprised how beautifully it fit all together. It made perfect sense, beautifully, beautifully together.”

Universal message

“The show’s message is incredibly powerful. We were just commenting with friends of mine here that it’s a message of hope and peace. Heaven knows that we need it in the world today. In fact we all came out of the performance just almost feeling like we were soothed. It was very soothing, very reassuring, soothing.”

“A wonderfully positive message. A message that we don’t often get in America, at least when we come to these cultural events. It’s all about a specific event, a specific composer, and a specific performance. This had an even greater message, a universal message of peace, brotherhood, harmony, and that only added to the beautiful elegance of the entire evening.

Universal appeal

“I just think it’s a marvelous performance and a marvelous production.”

“Everything was beautifully performed. Very well timed. Beautiful movement from the dancers. Everything was very very well done. Perfectly in sync. The musicians played beautifully. Just a wonderful collaboration of bringing so many different art forms together. That’s what I like most about the show. It brings so many wonderful traditional Chinese art forms together, but kind of puts in in a package that an American audience can really appreciate.”

“There is an inner kind of philosophy that comes out in these dance moves and in the choreography. It’s really really wonderful. I personally appreciate it. And there really is an inner story in the outer movements.”

Beautiful costumes and backgrounds

“Beautiful! Beautiful! I really appreciate it! The silk costumes. I appreciate it. The way the costumes were put together. Just very elegant, very beautiful, in a way that did not inhibit the movement of the dancers and the singers.”

“Beautiful images projected onto the stage but in a large format, larger than I’ve seen with a lot of productions. In fact I’m going to take some wonderful examples that I’ve seen here tonight and bring it back to my art school.”

Spectacular communication and collaboration

“This was such a great opportunity for American audiences and modern performers, modern dancers. They look at this, and they can get some wonderful ideas: ‘Wow! There is a traditional Chinese culture of dance and song here, especially when blended with a few western elements, that can give us a whole new idea of pursuing some kind of cultural collaboration.’”

“I think one of the fascinating things about our age is that there’s communication. We get this opportunity to see these wonderful traditional Chinese elements, and to combine them with some of the western elements. And because there’s such a communication in borrowing and lending of ideas now, it really is a spectacular way to bring some of the fantastic elements of Chinese culture into American society. And if you saw the audience members here this evening, you saw that most of them were not of Chinese background.

“It is marvelous to see an event in Music Hall with so many young people who came to see this performance and were just fascinated. They were enthralled.”

“As an artistic director, I feel that cultural opportunities especially for our young people, cultural opportunities that are appropriate in educational, in inspiring and motivating young people. It’s so important to have that. The ability to get an insight and to see another culture, and to get kind of a quick 5000-year history of Chinese culture in a beautiful presentation like this is phenomenal. It’s absolutely phenomenal. We need more of this.”

- Original report by the Epochtimes

Canadian Cabinet Minister Has ‘No Words to Describe’ Chinese Spectacular

By Matthew Hildebrand, Epoch Times Ottawa Staff, Jan 15, 2008-

Playing to a sold-out crowd in Ottawa on Sunday, the Chinese New Year Spectacular, performed by the Divine Performing Arts company, dazzled a full house of 2,100 at the National Arts Centre, prompting a standing ovation.

Ontario’s Minister of Community and Social Services and Francophone Affairs, Madeleine Meilleur, had high praise for the performance.

“This show is just wonderful,” she exclaimed. “The costumes are outstanding, the choreography is wonderful—it’s a wonderful history of China through singing, dancing, and the costumes.

(photo: Ontario Liberal MPP Madeleine Meilleur. /Ivan Ning/The Epoch Times)

“I am so pleased I had the opportunity to see this show tonight as it represents very well the Chinese culture and traditions, and it’s just outstanding. There are no words to describe exactly what I saw tonight.”

Divine Performing Arts says its performances celebrate human dignity and positive values, aiming to provide an experience of consummate beauty and goodness.

“The music was wonderful; the singer had a beautiful, beautiful, golden voice.”

“The message is very clear,” Meilleur added. “You see through the dance, the choreography, the pain that Chinese people have gone through.”

Hosted in Ottawa by New Tang Dynasty TV and the Falun Dafa Association of Canada, the Spectacular will visit Europe, Asia, the U.S., and Australia before returning to Canada in April and May.

- Source: the Epochtime