AIKENS STANDARD: Classical Chinese Dance to Glide into Augusta

Immerse yourself in classical Chinese song and dance when Divine [Shen Yun] Performing Arts comes to Augusta.

Tickets are available now for Divine [Shen Yun] Performing Arts: World Tour. A standout Chinese dance and music company independent of the country's Communist regime, Divine Performing Arts brings the show to Augusta's Bell Auditorium on Friday, March 13, treating audiences to a vividly colorful expression of a five-millennia-old culture.

According to its website, the company's masterful choreography and graceful routines range from grand classical processions to ethnic and folk dances, with gorgeously costumed dancers moving in stunning synchronized patterns. Its themes are drawn from the pages of history as well as the world today.

A full orchestra will accompany the two dance troupes that help comprise Divine [Shen Yun] Performing Arts. Sixty trained dancers will take to the stage in three forms of dance - Chinese classical dance, ethnic and folk dance and story-based dance. Chinese classical dance boasts jumps, turns and flips and aerial movements like high-flying dives while story-based dance portrays the dramatic tales of historic figures like Mulan, who disguised herself as a man to take her father's place in the army.

On stage, musicians will sing and play bamboo flutes and the erhu, which is commonly referred to as the Chinese violin or Chinese two-string fiddle. Drummers will fill the venue with thunderous beats while 3-D animated backdrops illuminate the stage.

Many of the dancers trained at the Fei Tian Academy of the Arts in New York. There, students learn to embrace and restore China's classical performing arts. Ancient legend tells that traditional Chinese art and culture were gifts given to humans by the heavens. What's more, many dancers practice Falun Dafa, a method of perfecting the body and mind through special meditations and exercises, in a way very similar to Tai Chi. The Fei Tian Academy teaches that Falun Dafa is unique in that it not only emphasizes the pursuit of health and fitness, but that of wisdom. At the heart of Falun Dafa are three principles: truthfulness, benevolence and forbearance.

This is part of Divine [Shen Yun] Performing Arts' 2009 world tour. The company will perform more than 300 shows this year throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Sweden, Taiwan and Australia among other countries.

Each year, Divine [Shen Yun] Performing Arts undertakes an entirely new program of dances, songs and musical scores.