A mother and child felt they were shown the true roots of Chinese culture by Divine Performing Arts in San Diego.
Stephany Brown, a health technician and drummer, and her daughter, Clara, spoke of Divine Performing Arts (DPA) revealing the Chinese tradition as a way of life.
“The way it was set up, there was very much color,” said 12-year-old Clara, “so I am guessing that they are very colorful and descriptive and they are, like, very lively. Now,” she said. “they are being held back by some of their people. If you don’t believe what they want you to believe you will get hurt. Before, it was free wind blowing and wonderful.”
Her mother said she has a lot of Chinese friends, who talk a lot about having to leave China for various reasons. “What I found most interesting was that it was very descriptive as far as what has happened in China. I think it sends a clear message not just to the American people but also to the Chinese government, I caught that.
“The religion was in there but I think that was not the point,” Stephany continued. “To me the point was the culture and the way of life as far as the Chinese people or this group want to portray to the world - to say ‘Hey! We are a peaceful people. We want to be able to keep our traditions, to keep our way. We want to show you what we are. We want to show you who we are.’ I very much appreciated that.”
“It looked more like they had some belief in what they were doing it wasn’t just like they were acting,” Clara said.
“There was a lot of emotion,” Stephany said. “As a matter of fact there was one point at which I cried ... it was a very emotional show ... it made me laugh several times.
“Like Clara said, the people were portraying themselves. That is the idea that was brought across, again this is who we are we are, not just some actor on the stage. This is our people and this is the Chinese culture. I was very impressed by that.
“And beautiful, beautiful costumes and beautiful, beautiful dancing the singing was amazing very, very talented. The piano player she was beautiful, a lot of respect. On the stage the movement was perfect, I did not see any bumbling, it was so graceful.
“Oh the male dancers were fun,” she said, laughing. “The yellow dragon drummers they were…” (Stephany makes an expression of awe) “…that was one of my favorites. That was so much fun to watch and oh! very strong!”
She said she “loved the effects in the background, the divine coming in and out. That was very interesting, I really actually enjoyed that. The dancers were fabulous.
“The picture that was created after each dance … you know, after the dragon, when they ended it was not symmetrical, it was a dragon and the same with the phoenix at the end it wasn’t symmetrical ... it is not the same on each side there is different things going on. Yes, it was, you know, the dragon at the end, it was wow! ... and when they ended, it was like they are portraying a phoenix. Very artistic presentation! I think people that were looking for it are going to definitely see it,” she said, referring to the dragon and the phoenix.
“This was one of the most incredible shows I have ever seen.”
Clara was also enthusiastic : “The message was, like, let us do what we want because, I mean, it is a free world, at least it should be. In China, now, there is not really that much freedom because it is like, you can be free as long as you do this but that is not really free because you can’t do that.”
“They weren’t trying to offend,” said Stephany, “it was not meant to be offensive to anybody whether that is the government, our government or the Chinese government. I think it was meant to send a message to say, ‘we need to be able to express ourselves. We need to be able to go back to some of our roots. We need to be able to show the world who we really are because if we don’t have that freedom then we are going to lose China.
“It was very interesting that this group was sending, I think, a message to the entire world saying this is who we are this is what we are really like.”
Please see DivinePerformingArts.org for more information.
Stephany Brown, a health technician and drummer, and her daughter, Clara, spoke of Divine Performing Arts (DPA) revealing the Chinese tradition as a way of life.
“The way it was set up, there was very much color,” said 12-year-old Clara, “so I am guessing that they are very colorful and descriptive and they are, like, very lively. Now,” she said. “they are being held back by some of their people. If you don’t believe what they want you to believe you will get hurt. Before, it was free wind blowing and wonderful.”
Her mother said she has a lot of Chinese friends, who talk a lot about having to leave China for various reasons. “What I found most interesting was that it was very descriptive as far as what has happened in China. I think it sends a clear message not just to the American people but also to the Chinese government, I caught that.
“The religion was in there but I think that was not the point,” Stephany continued. “To me the point was the culture and the way of life as far as the Chinese people or this group want to portray to the world - to say ‘Hey! We are a peaceful people. We want to be able to keep our traditions, to keep our way. We want to show you what we are. We want to show you who we are.’ I very much appreciated that.”
“It looked more like they had some belief in what they were doing it wasn’t just like they were acting,” Clara said.
“There was a lot of emotion,” Stephany said. “As a matter of fact there was one point at which I cried ... it was a very emotional show ... it made me laugh several times.
“Like Clara said, the people were portraying themselves. That is the idea that was brought across, again this is who we are we are, not just some actor on the stage. This is our people and this is the Chinese culture. I was very impressed by that.
“And beautiful, beautiful costumes and beautiful, beautiful dancing the singing was amazing very, very talented. The piano player she was beautiful, a lot of respect. On the stage the movement was perfect, I did not see any bumbling, it was so graceful.
“Oh the male dancers were fun,” she said, laughing. “The yellow dragon drummers they were…” (Stephany makes an expression of awe) “…that was one of my favorites. That was so much fun to watch and oh! very strong!”
She said she “loved the effects in the background, the divine coming in and out. That was very interesting, I really actually enjoyed that. The dancers were fabulous.
“The picture that was created after each dance … you know, after the dragon, when they ended it was not symmetrical, it was a dragon and the same with the phoenix at the end it wasn’t symmetrical ... it is not the same on each side there is different things going on. Yes, it was, you know, the dragon at the end, it was wow! ... and when they ended, it was like they are portraying a phoenix. Very artistic presentation! I think people that were looking for it are going to definitely see it,” she said, referring to the dragon and the phoenix.
“This was one of the most incredible shows I have ever seen.”
Clara was also enthusiastic : “The message was, like, let us do what we want because, I mean, it is a free world, at least it should be. In China, now, there is not really that much freedom because it is like, you can be free as long as you do this but that is not really free because you can’t do that.”
“They weren’t trying to offend,” said Stephany, “it was not meant to be offensive to anybody whether that is the government, our government or the Chinese government. I think it was meant to send a message to say, ‘we need to be able to express ourselves. We need to be able to go back to some of our roots. We need to be able to show the world who we really are because if we don’t have that freedom then we are going to lose China.
“It was very interesting that this group was sending, I think, a message to the entire world saying this is who we are this is what we are really like.”
Please see DivinePerformingArts.org for more information.
Friends Read Free