ANTWERP, Belgium—A concert and event manager in Belgium believes the Divine Performing Arts (DPA) 2009 World Tour portrayal of ancient Chinese culture is an inheritance for the world.
Mr. Shi, a native of China, was in the audience of the New York-based production held at the famous Stadssschouwburg in Antwerpen’s city center, on Feb. 24.
The guiding mission of the DPA is to rediscover and renew humanity’s true, rightful cultural heritage. Therefore, the company creates and performs works that center upon the true, divinely bestowed culture of humankind. Mr. Shi explained that he did not believe in Buddhism as depicted in the DPA program, but didn’t oppose anyone else from believing. However, with the DPA performance he had a real sense of something “very exquisite and beautiful.”
“I feel all the content is very good,” he said, greatly impressed by the agile performance of the world class dancers who were born and bred in America. “This kind of Chinese dance is not very easy. ... They grew up in a Western country, so it’s not easy.”
The artists, trained in traditional performing techniques in classical Chinese dance and music, bring to life China’s pious and divinely-inspired culture based on universal ideals, such as goodness, beauty, harmony, and self-improvement.
“If overseas Chinese would devote and develop the aspects of the Chinese culture of five millennia, to promote Chinese culture to the world ... then in the future, our Chinese culture will become the inheritance for world culture.”
He hoped that one day China’s laws would allow DPA to perform in China. It is currently banned because of its Falun Gong content. However, Mr. Shi said that some people watch video recordings of the show.
He was pleasantly surprised with the enthusiastic applause from the audience showing their appreciation of these world-class performers, whose movements were rich in bearing and form—such such as stunning dives, leaps, spins, and superlative body control. Chinese classical dance includes a wide range of performing genres, including acrobatics and gymnastics, which originated from Chinese classical dance.
“I saw the somersaults and the revolving ... such a high degree of difficulty. Particularly when I saw one dancer who revolved more than ten times, I was especially excited,” he said.
Mr. Shi was surprised there was such a great response from the Westerners in the audience “because they may not understand some of the content well, and focus only on performance skills.” Regarding the orchestra’s unique blend of Western and Chinese music, he said, “I felt the music was so beautiful.”
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Divine Performing Arts. Please see DivinePerformingArts.org for more information. |
