TORONTO, Canada—During its seven-show run at Toronto’s John Bassett Theatre, Divine Performing Arts continues to delight theatergoers with its lavish production of Chinese classical dance music, and song.
Agnes Bristow, who attended Saturday evening’s show, said one of the reasons she came was her “curiosity about the Chinese culture.”
“The whole history of China is really quite interesting and fascinating and I like that. I like learning about different people and just different ways of looking at life and looking at the world and I was curious about that.”
Ms. Bristow, who has seen DPA shows three times before, is an author of educational materials. She produced a series of seven videos and seven books that are used across Canada and the United States in schools and universities. She has also collaborated with her husband, film producer Leif Bristow, in writing a play.
She described the movements in Chinese classical dance, the centerpiece of the show, as “soft” and “gentle.”
“I think it’s peaceful and I like the feeling of calm. I always walk away feeling like I’m walking on clouds because it’s got that feel to it of—I guess you know you talk about compassion and you certainly get that message when you’re watching the show.”
In its celebration of traditional Chinese culture, New York-based DPA is the only company in the world that performs pure, strictly authentic Chinese classical dance as part of its repertoire.
The various pieces, said Ms. Bristow, “inspire you in different ways. I mean some are very uplifting, some are much more spiritual, depending on the music and the softness of the movements. It depends on the components that are presented to you in the different pieces.”
DPA portrays myths and legends from ancient China, contrasting with stories from modern-day China where spiritual belief is repressed. Two such pieces depict the persecution of Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline with roots in Chinese culture.
“It’s interesting the two pieces that you have about the persecution are done very well because I think it’s important to get those kinds of messages out—for any group that suffers from oppression or who are not being accepted and persecuted for their beliefs. I think it’s interesting to expose those things and I think it’s interesting for people from other cultures to see that and to understand what it means,” said Ms. Brostow.
Ms. Bristow knows one of the DPA performers, choreographer Tia Zhang, who is also a Falun Gong practitioner.
“I think for most of us we carry on our lives and we have no idea about what’s going on with other groups and when you see this, it brings to your heart—I guess because I’ve met so many people who practice Falun Gong and they’re all such wonderful people and I don’t think I would have known that if I hadn’t come and got to know Tia and also come to see the show.
“It just brings that information to you in just a very sincere fashion. And of course the dancing—I loved the colour and the music, I loved the dragon drummers—oh I absolutely loved that—that was so nice, so powerful.”
Divine Performing Arts is made up of three companies, with the DPA New York Company staging the show in Toronto. This company will stage three more shows at Toronto’s John Bassett Theatre before moving on to Montreal and then to New York City for a run at the famed Radio City Music Hall.
For more information, please see DivinePerformingArts.org
