CUPERTINO, Calif.—Dr. John Chowning from Palo Alto was among the audience members who were captivated by the final performance of Divine Performing Arts (DPA) International Company’s Chinese New Year Spectacular at the Flint Center on Thursday, Jan. 15.
Dr. Chowning is an American composer, musician, professor, and inventor, best known for his work at Stanford University and his invention of FM synthesis while there. He was very appreciative of the performance and felt that the Chinese residents in Northern California would want to see the DPA show. He said, “There’s such a large percentage of our population in Northern California that has a Chinese background or heritage. That heritage is important to know about.”
Dr. Chowning liked the DPA orchestra, which began with a classical Western orchestra as its foundation and augments this with traditional Chinese instruments. This enables its compositions to have the potential of Western orchestral music yet be rich in Chinese qualities. He said, “I’ve lived with it [music] all my life. … The music … has a very strong 19th century Western influence, but the orchestration with the inclusion of the traditional Chinese instruments makes for a very interesting sound. So that was very nice. … That’s a good idea. I’m glad they’re able to do that.
“I can understand the necessity because of the mix of Western and Chinese instruments. So that would be hard to do with … only a conductor and a keyboard and percussion, like [what] usually happens [when an orchestra travels]. … It would be hard to integrate the traditional [Chinese] instruments with the Western instruments.”
Dr. Chowning was very grateful to have had the opportunity to speak to the performers at the VIP reception. When speaking about what he thought of the performance he said, “It’s exquisite. The dancers are well-trained. Alina [Alina Wang, the lead dancer] … explained how the performance and the training differ, because she studies both Western—classical Western ballet—and Chinese classical dance. When she speaks of it, now I can see what she means when she says that the Chinese classical dances come from within, whereas the Western ballet is more composed for master to student. So that was an interesting observation that she made. But I think I understand when I reflect on it myself.”
Dr. Chowning appreciated all aspects of the performances saying, “Well it was very, very well done. I like very much having the two announcers review the story a bit before each piece, because there’s so many of them, it would be hard to remember from having read the program. I loved it.”
“Well the dancing of course was probably the highlight, because it’s sort of … refined. They’re movements that we don’t see in Western ballet. The dancers [seem to] float [when they] move … across the stage. They [stay] absolutely level … by taking these tiny little steps. … It’s a wonderful dancing device.”
“Of course the dance and the music always go together. … It’s all very well integrated. The coordination is very tight, it’s very well done.”
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.
Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, tours the world on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
