(Clearwisdom.net) The Divine Performing Arts (DPA) 2009 World Tour continues to amaze audiences as it sweeps the stage at the renowned New London Theatre. Each performance has been met with enthusiastic praise from West End audience members. "It's amazing!" exclaimed Ms. Garvey, a manager for a shipping company. "I'm really enjoying the dancing and all the different costumes. The dancers make it look very easy, although I'm sure it isn't."
"You can tell it must take years of practice to be that good. But they make it look effortless, because they're really good." No other Chinese performing arts company can boast such a remarkable body of talent. Indeed, more than just being accomplished artists, members of DPA bring an unusual depth to their work. They take to heart an ancient Chinese belief: To create true art, there must first be inner beauty.
"We need to keep the culture for the children"
Mr. Ashwin, a director for an import/export business, originally from India, expressed his appreciation to DPA after the show. "We need to keep the culture--especially for the children."
He was joined by his daughter, Imrarta, a civil engineer. "We liked the dances. It was very nice," they said. "All the dances were really, really good. Really creative, very creative! Interesting and really good," added Imrarta.
Mr. Ashwin continued, "But I think it is the cultural, historical, and the customs," and his daughter added, "It's about the compassion. For me, it was all about peace and compassion, and how that will lead you to the truth."
"Exquisite! Pure beauty!"
"It's visually very stunning!" Was the response from Mrs. Shafran, director of Human Resources for an international advertising agency. "I love the way that it's very vibrant, but at the same time the dance movements are very simple and very exquisite--so there's a simple, pure beauty."
Mrs. Shafran has a background in classical ballet. She said, "I danced when I was younger. I trained in classical ballet. There's a fluidity there, particularly with the way they move in the [silk] costumes. You get that sense of movement, and they are all together. With classical ballet there is a structure-it's more stylized-whereas with this, there is a fluid movement, which is lovely."
Mrs. Shafran also commented on the technical prowess of the singers, particularly the soprano Huang Bi Ru--who she said was marvelous in sustaining notes.
"We have never heard anything this wonderful!"
Thoroughly enjoying the program was Dorothy, a retired teacher, and her husband David, supervisor of a construction engineering company that built a bank in Hong Kong. "We enjoyed it very much. It is different from what we are used to, obviously. It's good! The background is excellent. All the things going on are represented, very interesting," said Dorothy.
David agreed, saying, "The singing, dancing, and the choreography, it was all very good. I really enjoyed the lady with [the] erhu. I really enjoyed the sound, absolutely marvelous."
Dorothy said, "It is something different. We hear singing, we hear piano every day. We have never heard anything this wonderful!"
Also in the audience were two friends, Inona and Morag, both managers in information technology. They felt "lucky to have seen the show."
Inona said, "It was really interesting, I've never really seen anything like this before. I was impressed with the discipline, the color, and the spectacle of it all."
Her friend Morag preferred the more humorous dances such as "The Monkey King Triumphs," one of China's most beloved tales of a monk who goes in search of the Buddhist scriptures. In the 16th century novel, "Journey to the West," a pig, an ogre, and a magical monkey both help and hinder the monk on his quest.