State Representative: 'I haven't seen skills like that'

SEATTLE—On Wednesday night, the classic Beaux Arts-style Paramount Theatre opened its doors to Divine Performing Arts' Chinese Spectacular.

Since 2004, this company has been promoting a renaissance of 5,000-year-old Chinese traditional arts and culture by staging the Spectacular in some of the world's most prestigious venues.

Washington State Representative Jim McIntire, a 5-term legislator and a former House Finance Committee Chair, is a candidate for a State Treasurer this year.

He said in the intermission, "Performers were phenomenal; the dances are just absolutely amazing, so flowing so smooth. It's terrific. My favorite performance was 'The Lady of the Moon.' I found it just fascinating. I haven't seen skills like that." Mr. McIntire added that the dances were "such a joy to watch."

A longtime economics teacher at the University of Washington, Mr. McIntire felt the performance "had a very unique perspective on the Chinese culture." He added, "As I understand, many performers actually do not live in China, they are of Chinese descent, so it's very useful for them to understand where they come from."

Kristina Koons, with a background in a real estate development, who accompanied Jim McIntire to the performance, added, "The cherry blossom piece was just stunning, just stunning. Costumes and the colors are just spectacular. I can imagine how much time and effort it took to put this production [together], so I am not surprised it's been all over the world."

For information about upcoming Divine Performing Arts shows, please visit: www.DivinePerformingArts.org.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Chinese Spectacular. For our complete coverage please visit: http://en.epochtimes.com/features/dpa2008/