Feb. 7, 2009

(Clearwisdom) ST. LOUIS--Former member of the Missouri Senate and Missouri House of Representatives, Harry Kennedy, praised Divine Performing Arts after seeing the New Year Spectacular in St. Louis, Missouri on Feb. 7.

"It is very uplifting. It is very exciting," he said.

The former Senator has received many honors in his career, including being selected for the 2005 Henry Toll Fellowship Program and receiving the 2005 Appreciation Award from the Missouri Home Builders Association. In 2002 he received a Presidential Citation for Alumni Service Award from the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and the 2002 "for kids, for now, for ever" Award from SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital.

"Oh, it is great. It is beautiful," the former Senator said. "The costumes are beautiful and the dancers are great, in terms of the talent that those people possess, in terms of jubilance."

Sen. Kennedy was also impressed by the physicality of the show. "How good they are, the shape they are in, leaps, somersaults. Great maneuvers."

Classical Chinese dance has its own complete set of training methods in foundational skills, a strict regimen for perfecting bearing and form, and means of training for skill sets such as jumps, turns, and flips. There are also extremely demanding aerial techniques which all culminate in an enormous dance system. The aerial movements of classical Chinese dance contain a wealth of high-flying dives, dexterous leaps, and diverse spins.

The Senator's wife, Mrs. Kennedy picked out several favorites from the program. She particularly enjoyed the dance, The Udumbara's Bloom.

"Their moves were spectacular, and so well choreographed," she said.

The legendary Udumabara flower of Buddhist lore blossoms but once every three thousand years. The flower's unfolding is said to herald the coming of a great sage or enlightened being. The bejeweled dancers in this piece take inspiration from that legend in a sumptuous display of reverent beauty.

Mrs. Kennedy mentioned a piece that particularly moved her, Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution.

"It is sad, ... the one with the little girl," she said.

Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution, tells the tale of a father who is persecuted for practicing Falun Gong. The fantastic scenes that ultimately unfold in this piece present a message of hope and bespeak of a longstanding Chinese belief that good people are ultimately rewarded, even if not in this lifetime.

Overall Mr. Kennedy appreciated learning more about Chinese culture, especially tracing it through the centuries, as the show does.

"This is a good way to get a piece of it, fun too," he said.

Source http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/11665/