What Were They Saying in Atlanta?

Rynetta Bell, a software developer, said, "I like the colors and the artistry. It's really beautiful. This is the first time I've ever seen this show. This is amazing. Really beautiful, really amazing. I liked the drums. I love that [the drums], that was really nice. I can't name them all. The women in the white and blue dresses were really beautiful. Really, really beautiful."

Bell's sister Marla Bell chimed in, "Professionalism is very good, very good. I enjoyed that. Considering that I haven't been around the world yet, so far for me it [Divine Performing Arts] is world class."

The third sister Karen Bell works in television. She said, "I also liked the drummers because I like drums.

Todd Mille, his wife, and their daughters Aspen, 3, and Autumn, 5, liked the drums. (Yan Yan/The Epoch Times)

R-L: Marwan Chawqi, grandparents, and cousin. (Yan Yan/The Epoch Times)

R-L: Michael, Lane, and Michelle Ferrara watched the show in the front section. (Yan Yan/The Epoch Times)

"I'm fairly familiar with digital projections. I thought it was fascinating. To be honest, I've rarely seen such projections in other shows. So it's nice to see that, and I think it was a good complement to the show."

Todd Mille came with his wife and their two daughters, Aspen and Autumn. He most enjoyed the drum dances because he liked the energy and the beat. Mille said, "Since we have two little girls from China, we've been involved in some of the Chinese folk dances before [like] the evil spirit versus the young man and the wise old man."

Marwan Chawqi is a college student majoring in business and finance and is from France. He liked the fan dance. He said the dancers are "very beautiful, very generous in what they do, beautiful faces, really nice to see, kind of romantic. Of course they are professional, you can see that they can do movements that no one else can." He compared the company members to top-notch dancers in Europe, saying the Divine Performing Arts dancers "are great, they are like ballet dancers, very professional."

Chawqi brought his grandparents and a cousin who were visiting from France to the January 5th Atlanta show.

Michael Ferrara attended with his wife, Lane, and their daughter, Michelle. He said, "I loved the drum shows. Just the way they performed and the sounds they made. Just seem to jump out at me. All of their costumes and performers were just outstanding and great. Their performance was in sync. Everything seemed to flow well. I enjoyed." He rated the company "outstanding, top of the line."

Daughter Michelle Ferrara said, "I also liked the drums, but I thought the dancers were really graceful and the way the moved, they were really flexible with their bodies. I just thought they moved really well. They are ballet-type dancers. I just liked the way the whole dancers just floated and sunk together." She said the only ballet she had seen was the Nutcracker . Compared to that show "the way the dancers moved in this performance was more graceful, and everything just flowed together very nicely."

Michael Ferrara said, "I think their performance brought out the reality of [the persecution of Falun Gong]. You could really understand what they were trying to say through their performance. Obviously the singers were outstanding. I'm glad that they put the English translation there, so that we could understand what it was that they were singing. Otherwise we would only hear the sounds without understanding what it was all about. The English translation really helped a lot."

Michelle Ferrara added, "I just thought the way they presented it in their singing was how they were feeling at the time and about the message they were trying to get across to the audience."

The night watchman appeared in the lobby. The red vested ushers stood in a group near the concierge desk, still smiling after a long evening. The show staff began to pack the few programs and brochures they had left. There were no more extra large T-shirts with the Chinese character for "dance" in gold.