THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.—Shen Yun Performing arts finished their performance at the Fred Kavli Theatre to cheering and standing ovations on March 20.
Retired Ventura County judge Edward Brodie and his wife, Tonna, were delighted by their first experience with Shen Yun.
Mrs. Brodie said “We love it, it was beautiful. The costumes are gorgeous, the dancers beautiful.”
The costumes are one of the hallmarks of any Shen Yun performance. According to the Shen Yun website, “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.”
Overall, Mr. Brodie left the show with good impressions. He said, “I enjoyed it very much; the colors, the dancing.” Mrs. Brodie went on to agree, “Yes! How synchronized they were.”
Shen Yun’s dancers are some of the foremost classically trained classical Chinese dancers in the world, trained at the Fei Tian Academy for the Arts in New York. According to the Shen Yun website, “Classical Chinese dance is composed of three main parts: bearing, form, and technical skill. Other than complete training in the fundamentals, it also entails systematic training in movements and postures, as well as very difficult jumping and tumbling techniques. And so, alongside ballet, classical Chinese dance is one of the most comprehensive dance systems in the world.”
After seeing Shen Yun, Mr. and Mrs. Brodie wanted to let their friends know about it.
“Yes I would absolutely recommend this show to others,” said Mr. Brodie. Mrs. Brodie added, “I would tell them, go, because it is a spectacular thing. It’s wonderful, tells a great story.”
A Masterpiece
Another distinguished guest at this evening’s performance was Mehrdad Azarmi, a film editor and produce who previously worked at the Ministry of Culture and Art in Iran.
From a choreography and technical perspective, Mr. Azarmi said it was a masterpiece.
“There is a lot of this first choreography where it opens up and you can see these dancers almost sliding on the stage without the shoulders moving up or down or the heads moving up or down,” he said.
Besides classical Chinese dance, some of the dances in a Shen Yun performance come from China’s many distinct ethnic groups.
“China has 55 officially recognized ethnic minorities, and their distinct ways of life reflect discrepancies in local topography, climate, and religious tradition. It is no surprise that these factors are also deeply embedded into each ethnicity’s dance style,” explains the Shen Yun website.
Very much a person who appreciates ethnic dance, Mr. Azarmi relished his time at Shen Yun. “We loved it, and we enjoyed it very much,” he said. “And we’d love to see it again.”
Reporting by Flora Ge and Jenny Liu
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.
The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006
