PureInsight | September 4, 2008
[PureInsight.org] On August 22, 2008, the Second Annual International Chinese Classical Dance Competition, hosted by international television station New Tang Dynasty Television, was held at the Town Hall Foundation on W. 43rd Street in Manhattan. Junior and adult male and female preliminaries have finished. Sixteen semi-finalists were chosen, and fourteen of them were from the Divine Performing Arts.
Divine Performing Arts Presents Authentic Traditional Chinese Classical Dance
According to Chinese classical dance experts, Chinese dance, also called as Chinese classical dance, was developed in its early stages among the common people, members of the imperial court, and through early theatrical productions in China. Chinese classical dance is unique in that it emphasizes not only beautiful movements, but also expressions of substance. Western ballet doesn’t emphasize inner substance explicitly, but it requires that the movements be as accurate as possible.
Here is a sampling of images from the preliminary performances:
Contestant #10 Chelsea Cai performs “Heavenly Maiden.”
Contestant #13 Jialing Chen performs “Heavenly Beauty Spreading Flowers Around.”
Contestant #52 Jennifer Su performs as “Whispers of Flowers.”
Contestant #40 Madeline Lobjois performs “Celestial Beauty Presenting a Peach.”
Contestant #58 Regina Dong performs “Rhythm of Spring.”
Contestant #3 Miranda Zhou-Galati
Contestant #54 Wendy Su performs as a “Female General Yang.”
One of the most important aspects of Chinese dance is the incorporation of the spirit into the performance. Different performances have different inner meaning. Although two dancers may perform the same act and movements, the inner meanings are different. The technique includes acting and movements, and there are also some difficult high-level movements such as leaping, jumping, spinning, and tucking.
Contestant #20 Rocky Liao performs as “Jing Ke.”
Contestant #23 Xintan Xue performs as “Yue Si.”
Contestant #66 Brian Nieh performs “Su Wu Longs for Returning.”
Contestant #68 Seongho Cha performs “Drum Leap in the Land of Divine.”
Contestant #61 Tim Wu performs “Writing and Expressing.”
For Chinese people, every movement and expression conveys a unique ethnic charm. If the performer wants to learn traditional Chinese classical dance well, he must know the characteristics of the Chinese culture well, namely essence, qi, and spirit. Explained from the viewpoint of performance, it is vitality, temperament, and expression. Besides the movements of pingyuan, liyuan, and bazi yuan, Chinese classical dance also has other characteristics such as twist, form, and hold. Chinese classical dance has deep inner meaning, and it reflects the pure essence of Chinese culture.
The mission of Divine Performing Arts is to rediscover the essence of true, traditional Chinese culture and to present China’s brilliant history to the world from a new angle. The performances include dance drama that depicts historical legends, as well as all kinds of other ethnic dances. The programs combine singing, music, and dancing, and present a pure and genuine compassionate atmosphere to the world. The backdrop, music and dancing all work together to convey the true inner meaning of China’s divinely-inspired culture.
In 2007, Divine Performing Arts gave performances in 32 major cities around the world and reached over 200,000 audience members. People’s responses were very enthusiastic, and a flood invitations to perform came in from all over the world.
In 2008, Divine Performing Arts expanded to two dance troupes that combined toured to 66 major cities and a total of 215 shows, more than twice the performances given the previous year. Every performance received hearty applause.
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