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As a former dancer, Ms. Johnson was especially impressed with Shen Yun’s dancing.
Floral and event designer Eden Johnson enjoys Shen Yun Performing Arts at Reynolds Hall in Las Vegas. (Courtesy of NTD Television)
LAS VEGAS, Nev.—Floral and event designer Eden Johnson, a former dancer, her daughter Brenna Russell, and her mother Merian Murphy were pleased to attend Shen Yun Performing Arts at Reynolds Hall at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, March 15.
“It was just phenomenal,” said Ms. Johnson. “It was a whole unit of just absolute entertainment and education.”
According to New York-based Shen Yun’s website, “For 5,000 years divine culture flourished in the land of China. Humanity’s treasure was nearly lost, but through breathtaking music and dance, Shen Yun is bringing back this glorious culture.”
“A Shen Yun performance features the world’s foremost classically trained dancers, a unique orchestra blending East and West, and dazzling animated backdrops—together creating one spectacular performance,” says the website.
As an event designer, Ms. Johnson said, “This is a beautiful event.” She said she appreciated the beautiful handmade costumes, the lighting and the digital technology that created the background, giving the performance a three-dimensional look. “It was just absolutely phenomenal,” she said.
As a former dancer, Ms. Johnson was especially impressed with Shen Yun’s dancing. She said the dancers had a very graceful flow on stage, which gave a lot of emotion to the performance. She was also very interested in the dancers’ technique.
“[Classical Chinese dance] is an extremely disciplined technique, and it’s very beautiful. They have an extreme sense of centered balance, [and] they can create their arabesques, their pirouettes just perfectly. It’s just a beautiful and graceful technique,” said Ms. Johnson.
Ms. Johnson said she enjoyed the cultural and educational aspect of Shen Yun as well. “I love different cultures,” she said. “It brings such a sense of other people’s lives. I just love the religion and the culture that it brings and the education that I had learning about their culture.”
Ms. Johnson said she felt a sense of unity with the Chinese culture.
Her daughter, Ms. Russell, also used to dance a little. She said Shen Yun made her want to get back on stage and start dancing again. She loved the technical part of the performance, such as the lighting and the backdrop screen. “It made the show,” she said. “And the dancing was amazing.”
Ms. Murphy, Ms. Johnson’s mother, loved Shen Yun’s colorful costumes and the special effect of the dancers appearing to jump into the digital backdrop. “I thought that was gorgeous. It was very magical. I enjoyed that part very much.”
Ms. Murphy said she would definitely recommend Shen Yun to other people, especially since it’s so unique and different from every other performance in the United States.
“Their whole approach to dance, dance patterns, and dance culture, it’s beautiful. Very, very delightful,” said Ms. Murphy.
Reporting by Yaning Liu and Sarah Le.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company is performing in Las Vegas, at Reynolds Hall, in the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, March 15–17. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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