The Divine Performing Arts Chinese Spectacular held the final performance of its world tour tonight at Edmonton's Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, and continued to receive the praise that has marked its entire season.
Starting in Vancouver shortly after the New Year and then touring within Canada, the performance troupe then went on to the United States, France, Germany, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Korea, returning to Canada for a final three shows in Alberta this May.
During the first intermission Jan Selman, chair of the drama department at the University of Alberta, praised the calibre of the show's performers and the cultural traditions they shared with the audience.
"I'm very impressed with the scale, with the commitment, and the scope of the pieces, and I'm also surprised," she said. Selman said she was still absorbing the Chinese cultural traditions that were conveyed through the dances and was happy to learn more about traditional Chinese culture.
"To hold onto our stories that tell us who we are is very important for any culture," said Selman.
"The stories are our spine, they're our true line, they're our connection to our past and our future, they give our lives meaning. And the stories that matter in a culture are what the culture is."
Without these stories Selman said society is "flatter, narrower. We're out of touch with where we come from." She added that the stories of spiritual beliefs highlighted in the show are important. She called the stories and beliefs that keep people strong through trials and tribulations "inspiring."
When asked which was her favourite piece Selman said, "The one that I keep coming back to is the one with the woman dancer who was tortured, dies and ... is then taken to heaven and honoured."
The dance portrays a female Falun Gong practitioner being beaten to death by four black-clad men with the communist hammer and sickle emblem on their backs. After the men face retribution, the piece shows the woman being carried to heaven where she is honoured and surrounded by heavenly beings in celebration.
"Although there was great pain, the faith was carried through, and so ultimately there was joy and a spiritual life that mattered more than the pain on earth," said Selman.
Dr. Joseph Iyekekputor, a French professor at the University of Alberta brought his family to the Spectacular. His wife said the show was wonderful and the entire family said the dance depicting the Falun Gong practitioner's final reward in heaven was their favourite. Karla and Gene Arvizu came all the way from Arizona to attend the show. Karla said it was "fantastic," and that she liked the clothing and decorations on the costumes. Gene was impressed by the synchronization of the dancers. They said they had never seen this kind of Chinese show before and wanted to buy a picture book of the performance but they were sold out. To compensate, they took a photograph of one of the Spectacular's qipao girls, formal ushers dressed in Chinese silk dresses.
After the show Joe Wang, president of New Tang Dynasty Television Canada, congratulated the Divine Performing Arts dance troupe and orchestra for their successful season. The group will return to New York where they plan to begin rehearsing routines for their next tour which is already in the works. If audience reaction is any indication, that tour will be even more successful than the one they have just completed.
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