Jan 9, 2009

Courtney attending the DPA show said: The piece about the persecution touched me the most. (Ma Youzhi/Epoch Times Staff)

SAN FRANCISCO --The Divine Performing Arts 2009 World Tour made it to the San Francisco Opera House and its pieces depicting an ongoing persecution in China affected several viewers.

Ms. Wong, a Director of a Child Care center was impressed with the performance, and particularly liked the traditional legends depicted: "I think the performance is great. I enjoy the Monkey King performance mainly."

But she stressed one piece in particular, a piece called "Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution." It depicts a family whose father is persecuted by the Chinese regime because he practices a form of meditation known as Falun Gong.

Ms. Wong's family had also experienced a similar situation when they lived in China.

"It happened to our family too--we didn't like it. We had to go to Hong Kong. Our family was very wealthy when they were in China--we owned our land and we owned a house."

She continued, "The Chinese government took everything and we had to go to Hong Kong. Afterwards, we were poor-really poor," she said.

But despite the unpleasant memories the show brought up, after the it was over, she felt "uplifted."

Courtney, a nurse, was also impressed with the performance: "The show is a really good performance-the costumes were really beautiful. The dancing was just awesome."

"It was just beautiful to watch," she continued. "It inspires us to have faith and to have hope and to just look for the goodness in life. That is the message that I got out of it."

She said that she was moved by the "Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution" piece as well.

"The piece was actually very moving when I saw it. It was good to see that they acknowledged the persecution and to show it in this light--it doesn't take away from the importance of it, but it broadens the awareness of it."

Another piece called "Dance of the Snow-Capped Mountain" depicts Tibetan dancers in the snowy peaks of the Himalayas. She also linked that to the plight of the Tibetan people within China.

She said, "I think it brings awareness to the oppression that is occurring in Tibet. It's in more a light-hearted way and it is easier for people to stomach. But, I think its good to bring that to the attention of the audience so that people know."

At the end she said, "The piece about the persecution touched me the most--with the father. That part was actually the most moving for me. Because I knew that that piece wasn't just all [fake]. The situation itself wasn't a happy one. I don't know how to describe it--but it was very moving."

http://en.epochtimes.com/n2/content/view/10051/