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ANTWERP, Belgium—A mother and daughter, who were among the audience members, loved every minute of the Divine Performing Arts (DPA) New York Company’s performance at the Stadsschouwburg, in central Antwerp, on Tuesday, Feb 24.
Mrs. Molendijk, who is a folk dancer herself, loved “the parts that were related to folk dance.” She found they were “most attractive for me because I myself also do folk dance. … Yes, that is very captivating. … There were many parts I liked.”
Her daughter Ms. Maes, from Arnhem Holland, is a professional dance student. She shared that she liked “the overall atmosphere, that was also partly created by the backdrops,” which she said were “very beautiful.” She liked the effects created by the digitally mastered backdrops, “especially with the landscapes.” She “really enjoyed that.”
Ms. Maes particularly appreciated the dances, she explained, “I really enjoyed the feminine style of the female dancers … I really enjoyed the feminine part.
“The elegance really surprised me, it was very light, especially the female parts.
“The males were very powerful, that really drew the attention, those men really jumped meters high, while turning in the air—quite spectacular.
“There were also parts that were quite intense, and certainly for those who are familiar with the Chinese culture—I myself am not an expert—but people that really know about it will be really moved by it, I think, because they are very profound stories, and you could see the dancers were also quite passionate. I also liked that.
“Without doubt the dances are their specialty. Also the part that involved percussions, that really appealed to me. Because I am also involved with rhythms and everything related with rhythms, I found that very exclusive.”
Mrs. Molendijk felt the performances had the wow factor from the first step, and that each dancer was as perfect as the next. She added, “What I found very beautiful was the perfection in which the performances were executed. From the very first beat on it was really like … wow!
“I also told her [her daughter], that you should not compare them with each other, because everyone is perfect, that is incredible.”
Ms. Maes was moved by stories of the persecution of Falun Gong in China today, she said, “Those parts that disassociate themselves from the totalitarian regime … I actually found these emotionally quite captivating. Absolutely.”
Mrs. Molendijk felt the performers longed to share the return of the ancient Chinese culture with the audience. “It is very clear that they want to show the culture, especially the ancient [Chinese] culture, the real culture, the profound culture and the culture of many centuries. And that really has very clearly been expressed. Absolutely.”
After two more shows on Wednesday Feb. 25 at the Stadsschouwburg, in Antwerp, DPA continues its 2009 World Tour in Paris on Saturday Feb. 28.
Jasper Fakkert of NTD contributed to this report
For more information, please see DivinePerformingArts.org
