(video) Latest collection of feedback for 2009 Divine Performing Arts World Tour

NTDTV via Youtube, Mar. 1, 2009-

University VP Says Divine Performing Arts Show is ‘Sublime artistry’

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.”

- The Epochtimes

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

Video: Musical Family Enjoy Divine Performing Arts Show in Philly

By  Sarah Matheson, NTD TV,  Philadelphi, U.S –

Divine Performing Arts attract many families who want their children to learn more about Chinese culture.

The Gammarinos in Philadelphia love the arts and really enjoyed the show on Saturday.

[Steve Gammarino, Musician]:
The music was fantastic, the musicians were wonderful. The dancing and acrobatics were incredible. So I couldnt say a bad thing about it

[Carol Gammarino, Former Performer]:
It was exciting, the costumes were wonderful.Their interpretations, the expressions, it was justit was top notch.

[Stephanie Gammarino, Daughter]:
It was really fun. I loved all the costumes. And the performance was awesome.
In never knew how diverse Chinese culture was within itself. It was really awesome to learn so much about it.

- NTD TV Via Youtube

(Video) Audience Feedback (11)~(13) for 2008 Chinese New Year Spectacular

From Youtube, by NTDTV-

Audience Feedback on 2008 Chinese New Year Spectacular (11)

Audience Feedback on 2008 Chinese New Year Spectacular (12)

Audience Feedback on 2008 Chinese New Year Spectacular (13)

For the details for the show in Vancouver area in 2008, please check the About section of this site.

‘The visual effects were ingenious’, Czech Opera Singer Says of ‘Chinese Spectacular’

By Kamil Rakyta, Epoch Times Staff, Mar 11, 2008-

PRAGUE, Czech Republic— “Totally, completely divine,” said Alexandra Polarczyk describing the Chinese Spectacular after attending the matinee at the Prague Congress Centre on Tuesday.

Polarczyk was especially impressed by the dancers.

(photo: Opera singer Alexandra Polarczyk said that the Chinese Spectacular was “completely divine”. / Jan Jekielek/The Epoch Times)

“They are perfectly organized, very silent, they are floating — it seems that they weigh only a few grams. They are wonderful. I’ve got feeling that there are five hundred of them.”Although still studying opera singing, Polarczyk is already performing at the Antonin Dvorak Theater, a major Moravian theater.”I liked every performance. The visual effects were ingenious. That one with fabrics, for example the waterfall [Nymphs of the Sea], it takes your breath away.”

She was also impressed by the state of the art digital backdrops used in the Spectacular.

“The video projections were super, they were nicely blended into the story. Wonderful stories, wonderful expressions.”

As for the singing, one of her favourites was the contra-altist, Jiansheng Yang. However, she said the erhu performance made her feel like she was “in Heaven.”

“The most beautiful musical experience for me was the Erhu player, Xiaochun Qi. It was perfect, I wanted to listen it for a whole lifetime. Like magic, splendid.”

The erhu is a two-stringed Chinese instrument known for its wide range of notes and mellow, haunting sound. Polarczyk also commented on the professionalism of the show.

“It was like professional recording, like they polished faults in studio and then played the best version of recording. Perfect. From artistic viewpoint I’m very positively surprised.”

For our complete coverage please visit:
http://en.epochtimes.com/features/dpa2008/

Chinese Spectacular Show ‘Pure beauty is beyond words’ : Taiwan Art Director

By Lin Qiaorong, Epoch Times Staff, Mar 11, 2008-

TAIPEI— New York-based Divine Performing Arts is now following up in Taiwan, being well underway with its 22-show tour. The performance venues include the cities of Tainan, Kaohsiung, Taichung, Taipei and Chiayi.

After watching the Chinese Spectacular several times, art director in a dancing company, Yang Siya, stated that Divine Performing Arts is changing the world. Originally she bought 52 tickets. Ultimately she ended up buying 80.

With over 20 years experience in dance instruction, Yang went to Radio City Music Hall in New York City at the time of the Chinese New Year to watch Divine Performing Arts’ Splendor. She said, “Art needs to move the spirit. When people’s hearts are moved, they can understand a whole lot more. Divine Performing Arts has proved this by virtue of the fact that its worldwide tour has drawn in audiences from various nationalities, cultural backgrounds and professions.”

The large background scenery really inspired Yang. “The use of simple bright and dark lights combined with high-tech backdrops, not only let people see clearly what was happening on the stage, but also changed the scenes so rapidly that they appeared so vivid and lifelike, thereby drawing in the audience’s attention and making them feel part of the show. For example, as “Lady of the Moon” was presented, suddenly the performer was shown to be flying into the heavens, the perfect harmony of this scene shocked the audiences.”

Someone asked what it takes to understand Divine Performing Arts’ performances,  Yang replied with a smile, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand Chinese or have an artistic background.” She said, “Whenever ‘Nymphs of the Sea’ was shown, I could hear a murmur of wonder and delight run through the audience, followed by continuous applause then. The fairies waved the fans so gracefully that you could feel as if the sea tides were coming towards you. The pure beauty of the artistry is beyond words. Anybody can understand it.”

Yang particularly mentioned how she noticed the clear presentation of the distinction between males and females which is part of the Chinese traditional culture. The dances clearly presented the sharp contrast between Yin and Yang.

“From the perspective of dance style, Chinese classical dance can be classified as civil or martial. Male dancers appear gentle, courteous and cultivated in civil dances, and virile and masculine in martial. A man should be like a man. Females are born to be elegant and pretty. Even though in martial dances they display animated courage, they should not lose the quality of feminine softness. These characteristics are neglected in modern popular performances. However, you can clearly distinguish these characteristics in the shows by Divine Performing Arts. They truly display authentic Chinese culture to the world.”

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Chinese Spectacular. For our complete coverage please visit: http://en.epochtimes.com/features/dpa2008

‘It is an honor for me to be here,’ Says Fashion Designer at Vienna’s Chinese Spectacular Show

By Milene Wirth Fernandez and Joan Delaney, Epoch Times Staff, Mar 07, 2008-

“It’s a piece of home,” said La Hong in describing the Chinese Spectacular , currently playing at Vienna’s stately Stadtahalle, the oldest theatrical institution in the German-speaking world, dating back to the beginning of the 18th century.

An award-winning fashion designer, Hong is originally from Vietnam but has lived in Vienna for 27 years. He says the cultures of China and Vietnam are similar, and the Spectacular reminded him of the home he left many years ago.

“I have been away from home for so long that the show reminded me of home. It meant a lot to me. It is an honor for me to be here today, and I feel right at home. Putting it in general terms, the colors, the music and the dancers’ movements made me very happy. I experience the same colors and movements in my fashion creations.”

Hong commented on what the Spectacular meant for him.

“The show spoke to me about the inner senses that are inherent in all of us. Though we live in modern times, we must not forget that each of us has a depth, our origin. Everything these days, though, has strings attached to politics, all over the world — especially so in China.

“All of us on Earth would like to live in freedom, to move around where we wish, to achieve our best potential, to enrich everyone else’s lives. I think this is the actual meaning of this whole show, not merely the colors and music and movements, but the underlying message, as I said before — freedom.”

Hong said he primarily designs evening and bridal wear, and he commented on the colours and costumes in the show — which are all handmade — from the standpoint of a designer.

“My clothes collections are just as colorful as the show costumes we have seen today.

The colors serve a purpose and represent a playfulness; they express being part of our lives. Specially now, in the winter, the colors all around us are drab and there is a dampness. Seeing cheerful colors lifts our spirits.”

Hong worried that some in the audience may have not fully understood the more profound inner meaning of the acts.

“I am somewhat sad that most of the members in the audience have only a superficial grasp of the underlying message of these performances. Perhaps Westerners did understand what the dances try to convey, I am not sure, but I have understood their meaning! I wish more people would comprehend the meaning of these shows.

After another show in Vienna on Friday, the Spectacular will play in Bratislava on Sunday, carrying on to Prague for more shows next week. A total of 35 shows will be seen in 14 European countries.

For information about upcoming Divine Performing Arts shows, please visit: www.DivinePerformingArts.org/sy/.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Chinese Spectacular. For our complete Spectacular coverage go to http://en.epochtimes.com/features/dpa2008/

Chinese Spectacular Is a ‘Great way of spreading a great culture’, says Chairman of Tokyo Chinese Language Center

“I am grateful to friends who told me about this show, it is fortunate that they asked me to come. This is the first time that I have seen such a good show — it is a great way of spreading a great culture.” more details please check this report from Tokyo, Japan

The Chinese Splendor is ‘a visual feast’, Says Choreographer, Tap Dancing Master

By Wen Zhong and Sarah Matheson, Epoch Times Staff, Feb 09, 2008-

NEW YORK—Jerry Ames, an American choreographer and tap dancing master, was very impressed by the beauty of Chinese New Year Splendor on Friday night.

“The talent is very, very lovely, and the music and the setting is just gorgeous,” he said.

Mr. Ames has performed on Broadway, in nightclubs, on luxury liners, and on some of the major television channels in the United States.

(photo: Jerry Ames and his companion, Adorama at Splendor on Friday night/ by the Epochtimes)

His companion, Adorama, is a former dancer who is currently working with the Dance Notation Bureau.

She said she enjoyed watching the dancers’ footwork in “The Fruits of Goodness.” “Those two boys who got lost … I looked at their feet. Gorgeous. Beautiful feet—which shows obviously the training they’ve had,” she said.

Mr. Ames said the performances were all very unique. “And we particularly like the costumes, very lavish and beautiful,” he said. Adorama said the digital backdrops were also impressive. “On that scale, that’s very unusual to see, because the stage is so large, and then to have this projection,” she said.

Mr. Ames said Radio City Music Hall was the perfect venue for the show, “because it’s so large, it’s just beautiful.”

He really enjoyed the drums. “Oh that was very impressive…wonderful, wonderful,” he said.

Mr. Ames expected people would learn about the show through word of mouth. “I’m sure that everybody who saw it will tell their friends,” he said.

He said he also liked the sentiment behind the lyrics. “What impressed me were the lyrics speaking of freedom, and against tyranny … The music was great,” he said.

They both described the show as a “visual feast.”

“With the color schemes and the way the costumes blend with the setting is very impressive. It’s very elegant, very successful,” Mr. Ames continued. “We’re very impressed, it’s just beautiful … We’re very happy to be here.”

The Chinese New Year Splendor continues in New York through Saturday, Feb. 9. For other shows in the Divine Performing Arts world tour, please visit: http://www.DivinePerformingArts.org/

Source: Choreographer, Tap Dancing Master Says ‘Splendor’ is ‘a visual feast’