United States: Opening Show of the Divine Performing Arts New York Company Praised by Audience

On December 19th, 2008, Divine Performing Arts New York Company presented the opening show of its 2009 world tour at the Merriam Theatre in Philadelphia.

The opening show of Divine Performing Arts New York Company stuns Philadelphia

Audience gives warm applause

Jeffery, a manager in New Jersey, comments that there is more traditional culture in this show

Walter Chin, who works in the Philadelphia City Government, is pleased to bring his family of seven to see the show

Jason Genise-Gdula says, "The performers are outstanding!"

Artists understand the connotation of the DPA show

Joseph Gilson is an artist who creates drawings for a children's book publisher. He said he liked Eastern history, culture, and tradition. He brought three friends to see the show. He said that from an artistic perspective, the DPA show was perfect. As an artist, he enjoyed the colourful aspect of the show.

Mr. Gilson thought that the show demonstrated human beings' entire history and the most graceful thing in humanity. He feels that our lives are tightly related to the past. He liked the show very much.

Another artist said excitedly that he was touched most by the stories in the various pieces. Each programme described a story on a human and spiritual level. He feels that this is what we need now. He said that we have too many entertainment-oriented things in society today. The DPA show however, depicts spiritual content, history, and important and valuable things.

Chinese audience acclaim Chinese traditional culture

Mr. Li and his wife moved to Taiwan from China and later came to the United States. Mr. Li worked at DuPont for thirty years before he retired, and was a senior scientist. Ms. Li said that the first half of the show was, "Excellent. The costumes are beautiful with matching colours. The dancers are very professional. All the numbers are very good."

Ms. Zhou came to visit relatives two weeks ago. She highly praised the show, "The performance is so good and artistic. I have never seen such an excellent show in China. The show is really good. No show in China is this good and coordinated so well. One dancing programme was ended with dancers forming a dragon and another dance ended with them forming a phoenix. So many dancers were coordinated so well that they performed like one body."

Ms. Lu came to the US seven years ago. When asked which piece she liked most, she said, "The whole performance is very good. The dancing is beautiful. The dancers are professional and performed very well, especially in 'Mulan Joins the Battle' and 'Legend of the Brush' which represent Chinese traditional culture."

Audience from different ethnicities enjoy the DPA show

Walter Chin came to the US twenty-five years ago from Cambodia and worked in the Philadelphia city government. He said, "I am glad to have my whole family see the show. We have seven people here including my wife, two kids and my younger brother's family. I like the story of the 'The Monkey King Triumphs,' showing the four people persevering through countless hardships. I liked the programme on Falun Gong and I almost cried. I know about Falun Gong and the persecution in China."

Gabrielle Schibo is a student in the seventh grade. She said, "My mother travelled to China last Summer and likes Chinese culture. We saw the newspaper advertisement [for the DPA show] and bought tickets. I thought the show was really amazing. It told stories of Chinese culture. One of my favorites is 'Dance of the Snow-Capped Mountain'. I really like the costumes and music. I also liked the 'The Monkey King'. That was funny. I would recommend the show to my friends."

Jason Genise-Gdula is a teacher from New Jersey, which is close to Philadelphia. He said he didn't know much about Chinese culture, and this was a good opportunity for him to learn. He said, "I didn't know what to expect at first. I really enjoyed it. It was really good. I was really impressed." When asked which is his most favorite, he said he liked the "Dance of the Snow-Capped Mountain," and added, "The costumes, music, backdrops, and dancing coordinated very well."

Henry Blum is a student at Drexler University. He commented, "I found it very interesting. I think it showed the wide variety of different cultural influences in China that are often lost under repression. My knowledge about China is not much beyond mass media and other information. In school, I studied some ancient Chinese history, but it was an introductory history course. I think it is very interesting to see sides of Chinese culture that are usually not exposed when people get their information from the news."

When the show ended, the audience gave a standing ovation for a long time.