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Ms. Kathy Van Ness enjoyed Shen Yun Performing Arts with friend, Sarah Ifrah, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. (Lu Rusong/The Epoch Times)
LOS ANGELES—Ms. Kathy Van Ness enjoyed the sold out matinee performance of Shen Yun Performing Arts with friend Sarah Ifrah Jan. 26 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
Ms. Van Ness has been the president of multiple companies in the fashion industry as well as a senior lecturer for the Product Design Department at Otis College of Art and Design.
Ms. Van Ness said Shen Yun was a great experience.
“I love the dancing,” she said.
Classical Chinese dance—“one of the most comprehensive dance systems in the world”—is the core of a Shen Yun performance, according to the company’s website.
Ms. Van Ness particularly enjoyed the dance pieces in which the sleeves of the dancers extended well beyond the arms. The fluttering sleeves move in unison and serve as a visual spectacle. They also reflect the dancers’ energy, from serene and soft (the fairies in Ancient Elegance, for example) to brisk and powerful (The Tibetans depicted in Dancing for the Gods).
“They were very beautiful,” she said.
Shen Yun is a New York-based classical Chinese music and dance company that tours to 100 cities worldwide—each year with an all-new production—on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture.
A Shen Yun performance includes a collection of pieces based on China’s 5,000-year-old, divinely inspired culture. In addition to classical and ethnic folk dance, audiences listen to an orchestra that combines classical Western and traditional Chinese instruments, and beautifully-costumed dancers move amidst a state-of-the-art digital backdrop that transports audiences to different realms.
Ms. Van Ness appreciated the orchestra, thought the backdrops were a great idea, and said the costumes were beautiful.
With all the colors and jewelry, “You could not miss the magic of the people,” she said.
Love and Grace
Mr. Alan Adler with his companion for the evening, Ms. Sue Marshal. (Michael Ye/The Epoch Times)
Also in attendance at the sold out performance was Mr. Alan Adler, First Vice President at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, along with his companion for the evening, Ms. Sue Marshal.
Mr. Adler said the performance was excellent and showed the strong Chinese culture in many forms.
“The primary emphasis that I saw today was love and grace,” he said.
Ms. Marshal enjoyed the dancers.
“Oh! Especially the women; they looked like they were floating,” she said. Mr. Adler agreed. “Beautiful. Yes, very graceful.”
Reporting by Michael Ye and Albert Roman.
Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, tours the world on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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