January 31, 2009

Audience members from around the greater Indianapolis area came to watch the performance. (The Epoch Times)

(Clearwisdom.net) INDIANAPOLIS--On the last day of January, the audience at the Murat Center warmly responded to Divine Performing Arts' (DPA) debut in Indianapolis.

"I was fascinated by the backdrops," said Mr. Allen, a freelance video producer. "I do promotional stuff mostly. So the backdrops, the animation and the video projection were fascinating to me. It was a pleasant surprise."

Mr. Allen went on to say that he was especially impressed by the performances concerning Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline rooted in Chinese culture that is currently being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.

"The positive aspects of it--the actual hope of truth in the face of adversity."

One such performance is "Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution," in which a father is taken away from his family because he practices Falun Gong. The story ends where the father is killed but leaves a message of hope that good people are ultimately rewarded.

"The music was fantastic, and the pageantry was beautiful and the color coordination and the costumes," said Mr. Allen, adding that his wife, originally from Malaysia, is a dancer.

Mrs. Allen said, "I thought the choreography was absolutely beautiful and I thought the dancers were very well trained. They were very well trained in the classical dances."

Being from Asia and a dancer herself, Mrs. Allen said she was familiar with Chinese dance. The couple's daughter, who studies Chinese dance, was also impressed by the performances.

"I think that this show was very inspirational. With all the movements and the emotions displayed through the dancers' movements and their choreography!" she said.

Her mother added, "It was very emotional, and it was great. One thing I thought was special about all the dancers was that they all felt what they were dancing. It was very moving."

She continued, "In a sense it reminded me of a dance kaleidoscope, whereas the other Chinese dancers I've seen they were just dancing and smiling. They didn't have a depth of emotion. And I thought that whatever [the Divine Performing Arts dancers] were doing there was a deep sense of spirituality about their movements."

Divine Performing Arts also makes use of an innovative digital backdrop that provides an animated setting to frame each dance. The scenes on the backdrop often interact with the dances on stage in interesting ways.

"And the visuals were really new, wonderful, and very effective. No one has ever done that before." said Mrs. Allen.