Mayor of Cupertino thanks DPA for traveling to The City of Cupertino. (Paul Wilson/The Epoch Times)

CUPERTINO, Calif.--Mayor Orrin Mahoney and Council member Gilbert Wang from the city of Cupertino attended the Divine Performing Arts Chinese New Year Spectacular and after-show VIP reception on Jan. 15 at Cupertino's Flint Center.

"Thank you all for coming to Cupertino with this event," said Mayor Mahoney.

The Mayor then mentioned that the aesthetics of events like this, together with the physical beauty of the hills is what makes The City of Cupertino such a great and unique city, "It's great to have an event like this here to add to that [uniqueness]. The event itself was spectacular. The grace and athleticism of the dancers was outstanding."

Being the Mayor of a city that is more than 50 percent Chinese-American, and having been to China with the Cupertino Rotary Club three times, Mr. Mahoney has a great appreciation for Chinese people and their culture.

The DPA performance takes the audience on a wonderful journey into China's past and present. Three ethnic Chinese dances are performed in the 2009 DPA World Tour, the Dance of the Yi (Southern China's largest ethnic group), Dance of the Snow-Capped Mountain (presents the joy of the Tibetans) and Mongolian Chopsticks (depicting Mongolian women).

"I've been on three trips to China in probably seven different provinces," Mayor Mahoney said. "And it was neat to see all the different areas of China represented in the performances tonight from Tibet to Mongolia to all the different [places]. Overall, spectacular show ... And I am glad I had the chance to come and see it--this is my first time to see it and I'll be back next year--it was very good."

The DPA also brings to life different cultural legends of ancient China. Two of those legends presented are, The Monkey King Triumphs, a story from the 16th century novel Journey to the West, and Mulan Joins the Battle, which shows the real story of Mulan, and her tale of sacrifice and courage.

Mayor Mahoney also enjoyed these ancient stories and said, "The flower piece [Welcoming Spring] was very pretty at the end. But some of the stories that unfolded were also neat ... The ones that told a story were my favorites."

The Mayor was also impressed with other aspects of the presentation: "The costumes are spectacular and the power of the singers' voices was very nice. The background--I haven't seen the use of the animated projection background. I thought that really added to a lot of the stories."

And when asked if he would recommend the show to his friends, he said, "I'd say that it was entertaining, it was extremely well done. There was a message there but it was done well and elegantly ... I'd recommend it. My wife had an alternate event that she had to go to... and next year, she will come along with me. There are some performances that I say, 'Hey you gotta go see this!' and I would put this into that category."