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Cecilia Evans attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Detroit Opera House, on Jan. 26. (Courtesy of NTD Television)
DETROIT—After Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company’s Thursday performance, at the Detroit Opera House, fashion designer Cecilia Evans said the costumes made her think “Oh my goodness! I’ll never touch fabric the same.”
“I loved it!” she said. “I am so hoping they come next year. I will stay in Michigan just to see it again I loved it so much. It was my first time watching.”
Ms. Evans exclaimed, “I love the show’s costumes! They were so fluent! I love the details! Even though I was in the balcony, I could see how much hard work they put in the details. And it flowed so wonderfully with the choreography.”
“I was really amazed and I could see the detail and I could see that every costume was different and it went with every different dance, so I was really excited about that.”
Shen Yun consists of numerous dance pieces using classical Chinese dance, a demanding art form that has developed over Chinese culture’s millennia. The dance pieces portray different elements of China’s rich culture, from history to today.
She commented, “I didn’t realize how excited I was going to be about the costumes, but by the way the fabric was made and how it flowed with every different theme it was fantastic! I loved it.”
“They had a lot of bright colors, but you could still tell that the color palette was very earth-toned and I love that.”
“They had a lot of bright colors, but you could still tell that the color palette was very earth-toned and I love that.”
Shen Yun’s website describes what goes into the making of the costumes: “Shen Yun’s costume artists collect countless designs of traditional attire, ranging from those of emperors, ministers, and generals to the everyday clothing of the common people. They use bright colors to tailor and recreate hundreds of new pieces each season. Every detail is given meticulous attention and is a result of artistic inspiration and careful polishing. The designers stress harmonic balance and contrast.”
“I love how even though it was as simple as the snow fairies,” Ms. Evans explained, “they were able to take the cloth and instead of just making a basic cloth of what we would think snow would look like, they were able to put the swirls in it so it still captivated the eye of the viewers no matter where you were sitting—it was just so fantastic.”
“Every scene was perfect. There were absolutely no flaws and it was just amazing. Like I’m shaking, it was so good!” she said excitedly.
Ms. Evans remarked, “I love the fact that with such a small stage they were able to take the actual performance and the choreography and it just dropped out and you could see the backdrop, it worked with the performance, not against it. It was beautiful. It was a flawless transition. It almost made me think, ‘Oh my gosh they just walked into a screen!’”
The Shen Yun dance pieces are all set against a digital, animated backdrop that brings the scenes to life, creating a variety of settings, both terrestrial and divine.
“I think the whole culture of the show was fantastic. I am very impressed because it was able to capture the people from different cultures to embrace another person’s culture,” she said. “If you just didn’t know anything about Chinese history or the tradition of the Chinese dance, you were able to sit down and actually learn and witness at the same time.”
Shen Yun showcases the dance and music of China’s different ethnic peoples, including the Tibetans in the Himalayas, the Han, the Manchurians of the Qing dynasty, and the Amei indigenous people of Taiwan.
“I had to cry a couple times when the performers were singing because even though I didn’t understand what they were saying, just reading the words, it really inspired me and I think the overall lesson to me was more of peace and tranquility. So, I loved it,” she said.
Shen Yun soloists sing in Chinese using the bel canto operatic style, but the lyrics are projected on the backdrop, including an English translation.
“I could feel the power of their voices and it really touched me and I was just thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, they’re really singing from the heart. Not just to perform.’”
“And it really, really touched me,” she explained, “especially with Buddha coming in and out of the different performances and he, his belief is not to show anger and to have, especially with the modern performances with so much anger and fighting and then to see Buddha come and just praise peace toward it. It really just made me think, ‘Wow if there were just more people who could embrace that ability to do peace and not show anger,’ I think there would be a lot fewer conflicts if people just understood that.”
Shen Yun aims to revive the essence of traditional Chinese culture, a heritage rooted in values like propriety and justice, reverence for the divine, and filial piety.
Ms. Evans pointed out, “Everything, from their fingertips to their toes, to the way they smiled, everything was on point! Everything, not just from their body but from their everything, from their head, to their toes, to their eyes, to the smile, they are very passionate about this.”
“I’m going to definitely come back tomorrow! Definitely, it was amazing! I tried to get my mom to come tonight. She was like, ‘No, I’m not going to come.’ But definitely tomorrow she’s coming. She’s definitely coming,” assured Ms. Evans.
Reporting by NTD Television and Andrew R. Darin.
Shen Yun, based in New York, tours the world on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture and stages performances of mainly classical Chinese dance. The International Company, one of Shen Yun’s three equally large companies, will perform in the Detroit Opera House, Detroit, through Jan. 29.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts.
