MP Peter Kent noted the universal theme of humanity in the Divine Performing Arts show. (Michael Comas/The Epoch Times)

When Member of Parliament Peter Kent attended the Divine Performing Arts (DPA) show on Friday night in Toronto, he was impressed by the professional performance as well as the universal values well told through inspirational stories.

"It's a highly professional combination of drama, dance, and music. The individual performances were spectacular. The company performance was physical, eloquent, delicate, and powerful."

"I found it a very powerful show--wonderful costumes, wonderful colours, spectacular dancing, magnificent music, and an inspirational message," he added.

The newly elected Member of Parliament for the Toronto riding of Thornhill, Mr. Kent is also the Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Americas).

Prior to elected office, Mr. Kent was an award-winning broadcast journalist who worked for more than 40 years as a writer, reporter, producer, anchor, and senior executive in Canada and around the world. He is a member of Canada's Broadcast Hall of Fame and received the Radio and Television News Directors Association "President's Award" in 2006.

Mr. Kent noted the universal themes of humanity and the power of goodness throughout the show.

"The stories examined all of the values that I think people around the world share, in terms of virtue and compassion and the ability to survive oppressive times and to be reborn again in spirituality and compassion."

Although they may be told in different ways, many of the stories here are told in other cultures, said Mr. Kent. "Basically the story is humanity and human spirit and the victory of goodness over evil, and these are common stories and these stories are very well told in this performance."

DPA is a premier Chinese classical performing arts company based in New York. As an independent, non-profit organization, it aims to revive the true, 5,000-year-old artistic tradition that thrived before decades of communist rule.

A trademark of DPA is story-based dances dramatizing the myths and legends of ancient Chinese culture as well as significant events shaping contemporary China.

An example is "The Monkey King Triumphs" which is based on the famous 16th-century classic "Journey to the West," an epic novel about a monk's pilgrimage to India to retrieve sacred Buddhist scriptures.

In another piece, "Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution," a young father is persecuted for practising Falun Dafa, a traditional Chinese spiritual discipline, but a vivid scene unfolds that tells of hope and ultimate reward.

"That's the inspiration that I think all of us are looking for. That's the ultimate goal in life--fulfillment, sharing, family, community, and virtue. I think that those are all values and qualities that we cherish and we have for thousands of years and I hope for thousands of years to come."

Mr. Kent also enjoyed the "magnificent" dancing and the "great leaps, great footwork, lovely coordination and synchronization."

"Well coordinated, very intricate, very complicated, obviously very professional and exceptionally well rehearsed," he said.

Commenting on the state-of-the-art digital backdrops custom designed to coordinate with each act, Mr. Kent noted that "the artistic concept of each of the sequences and the special effects, the real performance on stage combined with the animation and the special effects and the colour and the lighting--it all came together very effectively."

Mr. Kent was the first journalist to anchor the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's The National, the Canadian national public broadcaster's flagship nightly news program.

He is an active supporter of a number of local, national, and international charities and organizations, including the Toronto Conservatory of Music, Canadian Opera Company, Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council, and Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center.

The Friday evening show was DPA's second show in this year's seven-show run at John Bassett Theatre at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The show will continue on to Montreal and then New York's famed Radio City Music Hall.

Source: Epoch Times-