LITTLE ROCK, Ark.— Little Rock resident Mr. Hardy had been looking forward to the Divine Performing Arts since it was announced the New York based performance group would play at the Robinson Center Music Hall.
As a stage manager he is familiar with the theater but nothing prepared him for The Spectacular.
“Until you see it, you can’t imagine how good a show it is—its just really a good show,” he said.
Mr. Hardy enjoyed all of it, he said, “the costumes, dancing, singing, all of it—choreography–all of it, just great” but was particularly taken with the drumming [Drummers of the Tang Court] and Welcome Spring, a fan dance depicting the colors and vitality of spring.
The warmth of spring is a welcome blessing after winter’s cold in this festive, floral scene. Quick footwork, crisp movements, and stunning bursts of color form the basis of these women’s fan dance and its sense of sheer delight.
“I think it was just the fans, it looked just like a field of flowers blooming—it was just beautiful, just really beautiful. And the colors … My! That’s what my granddaughter said, ‘the colors’! … It just really came to life”.
Mr. Hardy’s seven year old granddaughter, daughter and son-in law also came to the show and he said they had all enjoyed their night, particularly his granddaughter
“My granddaughter especially, she comes to a lot of shows and a lot of them she is bored,” he said.
In the Divine Performing Arts however she “was sitting on the edge of the seat all night long. She really enjoyed it,” he said.
Mr. Hardy said the Divine Performing Arts had increased his interest in Chinese culture and he was looking forward to the company’s return the following year.
“I learned a lot of stuff about the Chinese people. Of course, I’ve always known they’ve been rich in their culture and heritage … I sure hope they come back. It was really a great show.”
SEOUL, South Korea— For Koreans who like to listen to the radio, relaxing music, or jazz, almost all of them know about Jin-Mo Kim. On Feb. 7, the well-known Korean music critic watched the fifth Divine Performing Arts (DPA) performance in Seoul.
In addition to being a music critic, Mr. Kim is a well-known music composer. He used to be a program host on KBS radio, host of Kim Jin-Mo music channels on Busan FM radio and the deputy chief of the Ke-Xi monthly magazine. Mr. Kim has introduced more than 500 pieces of classical music to Korean audiences.
He said the show is as beautiful as a dream: “DPA shows are very beautiful. It has myths, paintings, and also has dreams. It is as beautiful as a dream, but also very real to watch their performance on stage. These are all based on the ancient oriental culture. The performances give people hope for their future. I have been immersed in the bliss from the beginning to the end.”
Mr. Kim said he himself also often participated in stage performances. From a professional’s point of view, all aspects of the DPA show, including the stage layout, music, stories, etc., all left him astonished. He insists that he benefited a lot from watching DPA.
“The timing of the performers’ actions and the changing backdrop is perfectly simultaneous. It surprised me that the computer technologies were used so perfectly,” he said.
“I am also learning Oriental instruments myself. The cultural foundation between the Eastern and Western music is different. Many people want to combine Eastern and Western music, but they rarely succeed. However, what I saw from today’s performance is that the overall music is very harmonious, I have learned a lot indeed.”
He said that the performance was very harmonious and profound. “It is not to say that a performance has to reach a certain level visually in order to be accepted, what I want to say is that the show will be loved by all men, women, or children, no matter who watch it.”
“I’ve watched many performances and dances, which were based on stories. In those circumstances, audiences need to read the script in advance or the stories are some well-known works. So when the audiences watch the shows, they have to already be familiar with the plot and know how to appreciate it. It’s not difficult. However, for today’s program, audiences can perfectly understand the message from the program without needing a prior understanding of the story. I am very surprised.”
He once again said, “Every work is so flawless and impeccable.”
“I think their message is that current humanity is on its last leg. We have lost a lot of our true selves, and I think that humanity needs to recover what it has lost.”
Mr. Kim has experienced ups and downs in life and now likes to live in the distant mountains. He often travels to various places to witness people’s struggles. He has been to India eight times, and has also been to Japan, South-East Asia, Africa and other places.
“I hope that more people will watch the performance, so more audiences will be able to appreciate the beauty of this performances.”
- The Epochtimes, Feb. 09, 2009
ST. LOUIS— The Divine Performing Arts (DPA) performed at the Touhill Performing Arts Center in St. Louis on Feb. 7 as part of the DPA 2009 World Tour. The show won the acclaim of both Eastern and Western members of the audience.
Mr. Behrmen, a professor and dean at St. Louis University, said the show far surpassed his expectations. He said that the opening act, The Five Millennia Begin took his breath away to the point where he shouted out, “Amazing!”
“I am breathless. It is visually spectacular, awe-inspiring, brilliant, and amazing. The flowing colors, body movements, and costumes are spectacular, Behrmen said. “The visual experience is what makes it so dynamic. To watch this on television or on a DVD would not be the same.”
Behrmen said he was awestruck by the blend of Chinese and Western instruments. “It captured the environment. I felt like I was being lifted off my seat by the music and the human movement on stage!”
The DPA orchestra is a classical Western orchestra that is augmented with traditional Chinese instruments.
The singers especially impressed Behrmen. He said they filled the whole auditorium with their voices. “Some of the notes that they are able to hold and elaborate are just incredible,” he said.
The vocal soloists of DPA are elite, highly acclaimed singers who perform throughout the year on many of the world’s greatest stages.
Behrmen was deeply moved by the dance Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution. “I was thinking, it is just amazing how much the human body can communicate without language—how well that story can be told without a spoken word, beautifully depicted and communicated without a single word,” he said.
Behrmen said that this is a year of hope: “It is a planetary experience that there is hope in the air. What I have seen on this stage is that expression of hope. Having an event like this brings me hope that … all cultures can recreate the planet in a harmonious way,” he said.
He would like to see that captured in our dialog with one another and in our diplomacy.
“That was my spiritual awareness during the show,” he said.
Behrmen’s only regret is that he missed the opportunity to invite all his Chinese students to the show as he thinks they would have been so proud of the Chinese culture presented by Divine Performing Arts. He said he hopes that DPA will return next year; he will not miss that opportunity again.
And finally… He’s a man that’s seen literally thousands of shows on countless stages. But Broadway critic Richard Connema still called the Chinese New Year spectacular a quote, “mind-blowing” experience.
Richard Connema, critic for Talkin’ Broadway and seasoned theater patron has the highest praise for Divine Performing Arts’ Chinese New Year Spectacular in San Francisco.
[Richard Connema, Broadway Critic]:
“I probably have reviewed over 3 to 4 thousand shows since 1942. A lot of reviewers use stars, you know, 1 star, 2 stars, 3 stars, 4 stars, 5 stars… I will give this production 5 stars. That’s the top,” he said.
[Richard Connema, Broadway Critic]:
“The dancers were absolutely fantastic … I found out that there was not only dancing in this but heart. You could feel that coming even from where I was sitting … Just a beautiful production. I found that those backdrop scenes and the way it was projected and the way it comes out is absolutely fantastic.
[Richard Connema, Broadway Critic]:
“I’ve never seen anything like that. I’ve seen enough Broadway shows that still cannot compare to what I saw tonight The best word to use was “mind blowing”. And I watched around the audience and they all were so involved with everything going on.
[Richard Connema, Broadway Critic]:
“There’s movement between everything, even the narrators coming up, giving you a little insight and they move right into a dance… perfect!”
INDIANAPOLIS—Divine Performing Arts (DPA) delighted the audience at the Murat Theatre in Indianapolis on Saturday, Jan. 31, with its unique presentation of Chinese traditional culture.
Ms. Hanson, executive vice president of a major Midwestern university, was highly impressed with DPA’s visual feast of classical Chinese dance and Chinese ethnic and folk dance performed to original music.
“It was marvelous,” she said. “It was sublime artistry. Spectacular—just marvelous in every respect.”
Ms. Hanson said she had seen the show before but not in its entirety. “The historical sweep, the beauty of every section of it—it was just inspiring.”
The New York-based DPA is composed of a unique group of leading artists who share in a vision of reviving Chinese traditional culture which was all but destroyed after the advent of communism to China.
“One of the things that struck me was the kind of melding of the arts into the performance and the window into culture, as well as the really superb artistry of every one of the performers, singers, and dancers, each one individually. Together it was breathtaking,” Ms. Hanson said.
When asked what she thought about the message the show imparted, she said, “It was wonderful. The sort of emphasis on compassion is something we can all learn a lesson from.”
Ms. Hanson added that she thought the show “was a marvelous window into all sorts of elements of Chinese arts and culture. My home discipline is philosophy, so I loved hearing about Confucius too—the same message of Socrates, about knowing what you don’t know.”
Commenting on other aspects of the show, Ms. Hanson said that the projected backdrops “were quite intriguing. I don’t know enough technologically to know how that’s produced, but it was an interesting way of conveying various elements of the narrative.”
DPA makes use of an innovative digital backdrop that provides an animated setting to frame each dance. In some of the pieces, the scenes on the backdrop interact with the dances on stage.
The show also features accomplished solo singers and musicians as well as a live orchestra that combines Chinese and Western music and instruments
“The music was wonderful too in each of the episodes of the singing and dancing. There was humor in the introduction of the orchestra. I think we all learned something and had a great experience,” Ms. Hanson said.
She described the piece, Mulan Joins the Battle as “terrific.” A legend in Chinese history, Mulan joined the army disguised as a man in her ailing father’s place.
Ms. Hanson concluded by saying that the show “taught all of us a lot about the history of Chinese culture …. Bringing things from the various provinces was a wonderful element of the show too. It was terrific.”
NEW YORK— Concert cellist, Christine Walesvska was right at home at the Radio City Music Hall’s matinee session of the Divine Performing Arts (DPA) Chinese New Year Splendor on Sunday Jan. 25.
“This is just spectacular as always. It’s just incredible how creative and how each time they are doing new dances,” she said. “I love it, just love it”.
Ms. Walesvska has seen the Divine Performing Arts Chinese New Year shows for the last four years.
Last year, however, she was forced to miss it at this venue. A soloist since she was 18, Ms. Walesvska is world renowned and travels a lot to perform. Last year, for the first time, she was away for the Radio City season. While she still caught the show at the Beacon Theatre instead, it was good to be back at the famous theater.
“I mean, it’s just phenomenal, it’s just incredible. As always the dancing is exquisite and the beauty of everything and the backdrops. It’s certainly the place to have it here, in the Radio City Music Hall, just incredible.”
Ms. Walesvska said she was intrigued by the history of Chinese dance, noting its influence on modern acrobatics.
“I am very happy that the Master of Ceremonies told us that these phenomenal flips that they do … you know, I thought that it was part of acrobatics, but he explained that it was from thousands of years ago, that it’s the tradition that’s been passed on, but to do that without even putting your hands on the floor, just flipping!”
The Divine Performing Arts’ focus on traditional Chinese culture is, in fact, one of the main features Ms. Walesvska loves about the show.
“Yes, I have learned lots of new things. They are bringing back for the world to see the traditions of the ancient Chinese and I think that’s what’s so fantastic,” she said. Adding that different traditional cultures around the world “have been burned out” over the years but she believed the DPA was invigorating a renaissance in the classical arts of ancient China.
“When you look at, for instance, the ancient Chinese materials, and I have some beautiful ancient robes myself, and then you see well, yes, this group is inspired by all of that beauty of yester year.
“Then you look at what mediocrity is considered to be modern art and you say, ‘well my goodness’ I mean thousands of years ago all of this beauty existed and where are we now?”
As a musician, Ms. Walesvska noted particularly the role music played and the musicians played in the performance, describing the erhu player as “just most exquisite.”
“We, as interpreters, have the great joy of bringing to the audience from a different era something of great beauty that is rare to find today, and that’s what I think everybody appreciates about this show,” she said.
Ms. Walesvska looked around the foyer for the friends she had invited to see the show, noting with appreciation the three different companies now touring the world at the same time. “I am so happy … It is just so magnificent,” she said.
She tells her friends, “if you want to be uplifted, if you want to see something of sheer beauty, grace, magnificence,” then this is the show to see. “It puts you in another world, and I think that that’s also the great power of music because it has the capacity of lifting people’s spirits and inspiring their souls, and that’s what you have with this show.”
She used the words “beauty, purity, sincerity, excellence,” to sum up her feelings about the show, noting that “when you think of the amount of practise that it takes for this tremendous dancing together…and the things that you see, it’s so fantastic.”
She said the dancers were “very, very beautiful, extremely beautiful” and again reiterated how impressed she was with the new show. “I just cannot believe how they have different costumes each year, different dances, the music is gorgeous and it was just marvellous. I loved every minute of it,” she said.
- The Epochtimes: World Renowned Cellist: ‘ I loved every minute of it’
NEW YORK— For the second year running, artist Mrs. Denigris came to see the Divine Performing Arts (DPA) at New York’s famous Radio City Music Hall. This year, on the auspicious eve of Chinese lunar New Year, Jan. 25.
“I was here last year. I loved it last year and this year when I saw it advertised up in the Greenwich Time, I saw, ‘Oh, I’ve got to bring my friends.’ So I’ve got several Korean friends that I brought with me and my son and my husband, so there are seven of us. Lucky seven,” said Mrs. Denigris.
As a painter of traditional Chinese landscapes and wildlife herself, Mrs. Denigris said what she loved best about the show was the scenery.
“I loved the scenery. Besides the dancing and the music, the scenery is absolutely gorgeous and being a student of the Chinese art I appreciate the scenery more than the average person because I do that type of work. I’m inspired.”
DPA use a state-of-the art, stage-sized digital backdrop to display ever-changing images of traditional China.
“I love it. It’s inspiring. It just makes me want to go home and start painting,” reflected Mrs. Denigris.
TORONTO— When Mr. Rodrigues, an accomplished photographer, saw the Divine Performing Arts’ Yi Ethnic Dance on Sunday in Toronto, he was impressed.
“Beautiful colours, beautiful, beautiful! Very uplifting,” said Mr. Rodrigues who was also captivated by the choreography of the dance whose playful movements and silken rainbow-like skirts depict the joyful spirit of the Yi people, one of southern China’s largest ethnic groups.
“They were swinging their dresses and it kind of gave you that whole motion feeling. It was kind of nice,” he said.
Mr. Rodrigues, who has worked for advertising agencies nation-wide, has also employed his creative photography on brand name campaigns for the likes of Cambell’s, General Mills, Maple Leaf, Kraft, Tim Hortons, Jello-O, and Molson.
He said he was impressed by the aesthetic beauty of the entire show.
“Almost everything is a picture by itself,” he said.
Mr. Rodrigues, who brought his adopted 11-year-old daughter from mainland China, was also interested in the cultural aspect of the show.
“It was important for us to come and see it. That was really good.”
Divine Performing Arts will take to the stage twice more in Toronto on Tuesday and Wednesday evening before moving on to New York City’s famed Radio City Music Hall. Divine Performing Arts has two other dance company’s currently touring in the United States.
SAN FRANCISCO— The Divine Performing Arts (DPA) Chinese New Year Spectacular performed at the War Memorial Opera House on Thursday Dec. 8, and Mr. Hogan, director of a youth symphony attending with his wife, was extremely pleased to hear a live orchestra.
“I think the orchestra is excellent. Very well done. Obviously, its very well rehearsed. The conductor looks well accomplished. I think its beautiful. Very nice mixture. I am very glad to see that kind of combination taking place—beautiful.”
They had been expecting to hear recorded music, so they were delightfully surprised: “I think all of the music was very well done,” he continued. “It was all original music … We were very, very pleased to discover that it is a full live orchestra and is at such a high level—very exciting.”
The DPA orchestra performs all-original compositions while combining classical Western and Chinese instruments.
Mr. Hogan said that he was just talking to his friend and mentioned that the combination of the Chinese and Western instruments and music was very inspiring. He said, “It’s very difficult to have … a full orchestra and have them perform at such a high artistic level … It’s wonderful .. We’re very excited to be here.”
He went on to say, “My wife and I both visited China in the past and have been fans of Chinese culture for a long time. That’s why we came here—to have the opportunity to come and enjoy this. It’s wonderful to see them reenact the Monkey King and the other facets of Chinese mythology.”
Mr. Hogan concluded by commenting on the dancing. “Its just spectacular. It’s really very good. It’s really great to see a company at this level—a national and famous company like this—perform.”
PASADENA, Calif.—“Overall, the aesthetic I received from this production was one of peace, serenity, and harmony. In a world of chaos, trauma, and negativity, the Divine Performing Arts brought something most needed in this world: hope.”
Mr. Miranda, owner of an entertainment production company was in Los Angeles on Jan. 4 to attend the show that is astounding the world—Divine Performing Arts (DPA). The Divine Performing Arts 2009 World Tour will encompass 80 cities on four continents, promoting authentic Chinese culture, ancient myths, legends, and principles.
Mr. Miranda, whose company has met celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Heath Ledger, and Denzel Washington, shares his views on the show: “Beauty is the first aspect which comes to mind. Beauty through dance. Beauty through music. Beauty through costuming and visual imagery. However, that beauty transcends so much more than simple visualization. It is a beauty which touches the very soul of an individual, a beauty which brings to light how much mankind shares in all cultures and how much we are all one global family, bringing peace, love, and prosperity to a world challenged by bitterness, turmoil, and hatred … What Divine Performing Arts brings to performing arts and to contemporary culture is hope: hope for a better world, hope for a better future, hope for a better life.”
“The Divine Performing Arts, through its dance choreography, visual imagery, and musical interpretations allowed the audience to be transported to bygone eras of lush scenery and emotional drama, all with the vigor and enthusiasm of artistic youth.”
Mr. Miranda went on to say that the stories conveyed were ones of true inspiration. “The choreography portrayed the visual imagery associated with the characters, stories, and themes perfectly, while the wardrobe and set direction was truly magnificent. Additionally, integrating the dance choreography with the visual images on the projection screen as excellently as they did was pure genius.”
The DPA Orchestra was the outstanding aspect of the show for Mr. Miranda—a music lover and musician. “Live musicians establish a certain organic relationship which bonds the performers [both dancers and musicians] with the audience, and that served Divine Performing Arts extremely well.”
The orchestra combines Western and Chinese musical instruments to create a unique and beautiful sound. Currently it is the world’s only orchestra that embraces both Western and Chinese instruments together.
“The professionalism and level of excellence [the DPA performers] bring, challenges one to be the best one can be and just to be a part of this in some shape or form would be a true honor. I know I did not mention the outstanding vocalists much, but rest assured, although I did not understand the words sung, I was deeply moved by the expressiveness and vocal intensity of each performer.”
