(Clearwisdom.net) Divine Performing Arts (DPA) presented its Chinese New Year Spectacular to Seattle audiences at the Paramount Theatre on January 18, 2009. DPA celebrates traditional Chinese culture through dance, storytelling, and songs. The show also uses various aspects of Chinese culture, such as influences from various dynasties, themes of beauty, spirituality, and unity to reflect traditional Chinese culture. Several audience members at the matinee performance stopped to allow a reporter to interview them and get their impressions of the show. Three ladies with very different backgrounds shared their impressions.
Akasha Bonis is a financial administrator at Microsoft. Here is what she had to say about the show, "It's phenomenal! I'm walking out of here completely inspired--very inspired, very moved, very attached. I cried in several places. It was wonderful." The interviewer asked what she was feeling, "It was just a feeling in my heart, in my soul. It's just so spiritual. I cannot even fit it into words. I'm going to try to explain it to other people."
When asked if she had a favorite segment in the show or one that stood out, Ms. Bonis replied, "Several of them did [stand out]. The one about the persecution that's going on. In that one I did shed a lot of tears, you know. It just made me really sad. I wish that there were something that I could do... You know, actually recently, I've been very touched [by] what's going on in China. I am one of those who look for something else that I can do to help [or] something that I can do to get someone else to help."
The reporter told Ms. Bonis that the show is banned in China. She responded, "You know, we should all be able to share and share in what we believe in. And learn to love and trust each other, no matter what that is... I've always had [a special connection with Chinese culture], ever since I was little. As I am getting older and learning more about what's going on and everything else, you know, I am just so touched by the traditions of China, but I am so saddened at the persecution and the limitations--not being able to believe in what you want to believe in, not being able to go to [your] own ancestors' temples--so many things that are being limited, and I don't believe in that. I'll do whatever I can [to help]."
She went on to say, "This show has a spiritual undertone ... that draws [one] into compassion and forgiveness, making you stand up for what you believe in--and I got all of that from watching the dancers in the performance... The very opening, the minute the curtain went up, I started to cry. It hadn't even really gotten into the show yet, and I started to cry. I was so touched. As soon as I saw all of the colors and dancers and everything else, it was so touching."
Dr. Regina Yeh says that music and art are her life. Dr. Yeh is a concert pianist and professor. She was on the piano faculty at the University of Washington in Seattle for seven years and is currently the Director of Piano Studies at Pacific Lutheran University in southern Seattle (Tacoma). She will be travel to Korea, Taipei, and Shandu in June to perform concerts and teach master classes. She also serves as a jury member for piano competitions.
Dr. Yeh was asked about how she, as an Asian, experienced the show from a cultural perspective, "I think it's beautiful! It reminds me of when I was in kindergarten and [danced]. I didn't know then that was Chinese classical dance. [The dancing in the show] is very beautiful, and it makes me feel like [I was] coming home. Very nice! I don't know too much about dancing, so I don't have much to say about it. I just know that, as an artist, it feels beautiful. And the art that I am seeing and feeling is very touching! And the music is beautiful! It's very touching, very warm, and with a good message." When asked about the message, she responded, "I think it's about purity and about connecting with people, truth, and goodness. So that's very, very touching. But that's what art is about, too. So, it's beautiful!"
Dr. Yeh went on to say, "I think it's great you are trying to make the message [of the persecution of Falun Gong] connect to art, because the purity of the art connects with the spirit--that's very direct. I think it's very good communication--the message you're bringing to everyone. I think you'll speak more directly through art than any words."
When asked about the music in the show, given that her art is music, Dr. Yeh replied, "Oh, it's beautiful! Yes, with my old programs that I play, I also play a Chinese piece, [music] from Taiwan, and American, conventional classical pieces. That's my thing. I do that a lot. I love it! So it's beautiful! And in the dramatic parts of the show, the music corresponded to the drama. So it was very well done--almost kind of operatic. So, very good!"
Michelle Anciaux, an improved-language educator in Seattle, shared her impression of the show, "I enjoyed it very much! It was a beautifully put together performance. It has a great rhythm to it. It's nice that it's something that covers so many centuries in a culture that isn't always shared." What most stood out to you? "I think the idea of juxtaposing the old and the new. That is, understanding the current situation by taking a look at the past."
The interviewer asked Ms. Anciaux what, as an educator, she thought of the show. "I think this is a very unusual show because not only is it sharing in an artistic respect, but clearly there are messages you want to share as well. And I think it just goes to show that there're many ways to get across a perspective that is not always [heard]. My work is really devoted to making sure that all voices are heard. Sometimes we only hear one voice. One of the beauties of America is that we offer an opportunity for a safe place for many voices to be heard. So I appreciate that this medium allows us to both visually and certainly with the sound and singing and so on, to have both a window into a culture and to understand some voices that aren't usually given a place to be heard."
When asked if she had learned about traditional Chinese culture by seeing the show. She replied, "Its really beautiful, and I think there's a lot about a quality of dance and music that we sometimes assume comes from the west, or something like that. And we don't even realize how long a tradition may have existed somewhere else in the world. So I see things that look like ballet to me, but ballet is rather relatively new, and I think some of these traditional Chinese dances probably go back further. And then the mix of things that we might think of as acrobatics versus dance, that they all can come together, is very interesting."