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Ms. Diane Richards attends the Shen Yun performance with her date at the Detroit Opera House on Jan. 26. (The Epoch Times)
DETROIT—“The performances are amazing, these are such talented young people. And the costumes are spectacular, just spectacular,” said Diane Richards, a radio station host, about the Shen Yun Performing Arts dancers and musicians who performed at the Detroit Opera House on Jan. 26.
Ms. Richards drove from Grand Rapids to Detroit to attend the performance with her date, who resides in Detroit.
Shen Yun is based in New York with the mission to revitalize true Chinese culture destroyed by Communism. Its means are through displaying traditional culture and its virtues with dance and music.
“The orchestra is spectacular. I mean just world-class,” Ms. Richards said.
Along with a world-class orchestra, the stage is set with state-of-the-art digital backdrops, which are “animated settings, extending the stage and transporting the audience to a world where heaven and earth are one,” according to Shen Yun’s website.
Ms. Richards said, “The backdrops are wonderful and really add to it a lot. It draws you in, and it gives you a better perspective of what they are trying to get across. That’s one of the wonderful things about performances and arts, each one of us can draw something different from it.”
Shen Yun dance performances spurred her interest in folk dancing. “I am part Armenian and all cultures have some background of folk dancing, cultural dancing, and I am fascinated by this and the different regions.”
“I particularly enjoyed the Mongolian Bowl Dance with the bowls on their heads. It was beautiful, and the costumes were spectacular.”
She also really enjoyed The Dancing for the Gods, a traditional Tibetan dance. Ms. Richards described it as marvelous. She had never been in the Detroit Opera House before and felt it was beautiful, “just perfect for this.”
“I would love to see it come to Grand Rapids. [Shen Yun] is just world-class spectacular,” she said.
Reporting by Valerie Avore and Cat Rooney.
Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company’s last performance at the Detroit Opera House will be on Sunday, Jan. 27. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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