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Connie Stevens attended Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with her grandchildren on Friday Jan. 13. (Courtesy of NTD Television)
LOS ANGELES—“I just think it’s extraordinary. The quality of the art is extremely great,” said actress Ms. Connie Stevens, who attended the sold-out opening night of Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion with her grandchildren.
Shen Yun has a global mission: To revive 5,000 years of divinely inspired Chinese culture, which, after years of communist rule in China, was all but demolished. However, the deeper spiritual core of ancient Chinese culture cannot be destroyed, and hence Shen Yun’s mission, as described in the Shen Yun website.
Ms. Stevens has had a multifaceted career, which spans 50 years, as an actress in movies and television, singer, tycoon with her own skin care products, and now as a director. Her newest project since picking up the directorial badge is a Western called Prairie Bones.
Bringing into focus the unique presentation Shen Yun provides, she said the performance “is totally different than what we’re used to.”
“It’s very precise. It is an extraordinary thing to see an entire group do one thing extremely well, and having been in this business for so many years I appreciate what they do, so I wanted the children to see really good work.”
Having worked in numerous productions over the years, Ms. Stevens has a discerning eye. “I think the costumes and how they change clothes that fast, the stamina, and the young men are extraordinary, just extraordinary because I used to work with eighteen dancers in Las Vegas, boys, so I know a good dancer when I see one!”
Shen Yun consists of many short dance pieces, each portraying a different aspect or story from Chinese culture. One element contributing to the beauty of the show are the costumes, which are different for each piece.
Summing up the evening in one word Ms. Stevens added, “Beautiful!”
The brilliance of tonight’s performance culminated in a warm response from the audience, a standing ovation, one curtain call and an encore for the rich voice of tenor Hong Ming.
Reporting by NTD television and Cheryl Casati.
Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world.
Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company will perform at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, The Music Center in Los Angeles through Jan. 14.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts.
