Music Producer: ‘The show gives me lot of inspiration’

NEWARK, N.J.—The fabulous music and dance of the Divine Performing Arts Chinese New Year Spectacular captivated theatergoers at New Jersey Performing Arts Center in downtown Newark on Tuesday Jan. 27. Music producer, Mr. Pena, was among the members of audience.  

“The show is amazing. The different colors they are using, different ideas and different dances...I like it.”

As a music professional, Mr. Pena said he found the music in the show offered a lot of grist for his own creative mill.

“Definitely a lot of ideas. It’s very inspiring to do different things like this. And it just goes to show that you can have a sound for everything,” meaning, he explained, that different types of music could be combined to create new, good music.

“The place itself, the sound bounces off the walls here and makes it sound that much better. And the music is great.”

Despite his enthusiasm for the music, Mr. Pena said he found the dancing even better.

“I like it when they do the flips like that and when they jump. It’s elegant and graceful.”

Classical Chinese dance has its a distinct training regimen for perfecting bearing and form, as well as the special skills needed for its unique jumps, turns, and flips, and extremely demanding aerial techniques. The aerial movements of classical Chinese dance contain a wealth of high-flying dives, dexterous leaps, and diverse spins.

Mr. Pena was also impressed by how the stories were presented in the Divine Performing Arts show.

‘The stories you can tell through dance, you don’t have to speak or talk about it. You do it right through dance. And it’s beautiful.’

The Monkey King Triumphs and Mulan Joins the Battle are two of those narratives. Both present stories from Chinese literature and history in an accessible and engaging way.

  Please see DivinePerformingArts.org for more information.