AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France—Nestled between Arles and Avignon, in the heart of the Alpilles, Saint-Rémy-de-Provence is by definition the Provençal village.
Its narrow streets, its charming squares with refreshing fountains or its majestic private mansions make it an essential place to visit for all lovers of the Provençal art of living.
This small Provençal town where Nostradamus was born and which inspired Vincent Van Gogh was, on April 4, 2019, represented in a way by one of its jewelers, Jean-Claude Ferrani.
Mr. Ferrani came to the Grand Théâtre de Provence in Aix with his granddaughter to discover traditional Chinese culture with Shen Yun Performing Arts.
“This is the first time I’ve been to a show like this. And I wanted to say that it was great, the artists’ performance is extraordinary! A lot of beauty; all the scenery that was presented was fabulous,” he said.
The story-based dances bring back to life the many ethnic groups that inhabited ancestral China---from Mongols to Yi to Tibetans along with their typical costumes, their dances, and cultural rites.
Similarly, the various dynasties that succeeded each other in China, bringing their own culture, or even classical Chinese literature, are thus presented. The vignettes each combine colorful costumes with majestic landscapes that come alive thanks to the innovative technology of a digital stage background.
“I really found myself in another world, I discovered another culture, a beautiful tradition! And to see China from a spiritual point of view never happened to me because today when we talk about China, we are talking about a rather communist China. Today, we are discovering a rather spiritual China with a very beautiful dimension. I discovered another nation, another dimension and beautiful artists,” he said.
Shen Yun means “the beauty of the divine beings dancing” and therefore embodies this spirituality, recalling that ancestral China considered its culture as “semi-divine.”
Mr. Ferrani is not insensitive to this aspect: “There is a divine side, there is a spiritual side, so it elevates the spirit and during this show Shen Yun takes us to a very beautiful dimension which I really appreciated.”
Mr. Ferrani was very grateful for Shen Yun’s visit to France and foundit very beneficial.
“France, with spirituality, is very limited ... We are rather in a country where spirituality unfortunately does not have much space, and to see Shen Yun coming to our land and presenting us with such a beautiful show and taking us in such a beautiful spiritual dimension, I find it extraordinary!” he said. Shen Yun brings us another vision of things. This is very beautiful.”
