CUPERTINO, Calif.—Cupertino City Council member Gilbert Wong welcomed Divine Performing Arts (DPA) International Company’s Chinese New Year Spectacular to Cupertino on Thursday, Jan. 15. The DPA enthralled the audience for the final performance at the Flint Center as part of its 2009 World Tour.
“I want to welcome Divine Performing Arts to my city of Cupertino. I am really excited that you have been performing in San Francisco and that you’ve come down here to Cupertino. ... There is a huge Chinese population, and this is a great way to celebrate the Chinese New Year. This is my first time and I really enjoy the culture aspects of bringing [it] to the community down here in the South Bay. I am really excited that DPA and New Tang Dynasty TV (NTDTV) came here to Cupertino.”
The goal of Divine Performing Arts is to bring back traditional Chinese culture that spans 5,000 years and several ethnic groups. Mr. Wong voiced his appreciation, “What I like the most was to see the different dances, beautiful costumes, and beautiful music. I liked the whole show in totality, showing the beautiful Chinese culture, all performances are very good.”
“What I like most is that many think China is just one ethnic group, the Han group, but in reality China is composed of 55 minority groups. Tonight in the show ... there are three minority performances groups being shown in the performance. The Yi [Dance of the Yi] from Southwest China, the inner Mongolian [Mongolian Chopsticks], and the Tibetan [Dance of the Snow-Capped Mountain], and it was really nice to see that not just the U.S. is diverse, but China is also a diverse culture as well, something that we need to let the world know.”
The Yi, one of southern China’s largest ethnic groups, are known for their passion about music and dance, as suggested by the colorful movements of Dance of the Yi. The Yi seize most every occasion to “dance out” their feelings in everyday life.
In the Dance of the Snow-Capped Mountain, undaunted by snow and the elements, the dancers vigorously celebrate the joys of the Tibetan steppes as they spin, stomp, and step in an extravagant gesture of welcoming.
The vivacity of ethnic dance from China’s hinterlands bursts forth in the contagiously joyful and festive use of chopsticks by these Mongolian women in Mongolian Chopsticks.
Mr. Wong further expressed his appreciation of DPA’s presentation of Chinese culture, “I think it is a great opportunity to introduce Chinese culture to the American public, that you can do it through performances, through music, through costumes, and this is just a really class act I encourage others to watch. What really touches my heart is that since I am an American-born Chinese, and I do not get the opportunity to travel a lot, I can see some of my cultural heritage through the performances of the DPA. As a Cupertino council member I really loved coming to the Flint Center here at De Anza College—we have a very large Chinese population, and it is really wonderful that you added another location here in the Silicon Valley, and Cupertino is the heart of the Silicon Valley, and having a performance here shows that there is niche for you to come here, and we are really excited about that.”
Mr. Wong talked to the performers at a reception before the show and said, “I am really excited to see young American-born Chinese like me learning about the cultural heritage of China through the performing arts and dance. Chinese Americans live across the country, from Texas, Maryland, or New York. And also to see that non-Chinese are also very interested in Chinese culture and some of the concerns that you have, and that’s really great to see that. And the more we can share different ideas, different values, and talk about it, I think it is very important.”
This was the final performance of the DPA International Company in Cupertino. It will be in Seattle for two shows on Sunday Jan. 18 on the next leg of its 2009 World Tour.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Divine Performing Arts 2009 World Tour.
For more information, please see DivinePerformingArts.org
