Dr. John Anderson at the Shen Yun Performing Arts performance at Gallo Center for the Arts—Mary Stuart Rogers Theater, in Modesto, Calif., on Jan. 8, 2024. (Gary Wang/The Epoch Times)
MODESTO, Calif.—A composer puts music to paper, and musicians bring it to life. Shen Yun Performing Arts’ resident composers work closely with choreographers to present the best production to its audience.
“Very excellent musicians,” said Dr. John Anderson, a conductor who has had national experiences as a guest conductor and clinician.
Shen Yun is based in New York, and it currently has eight companies touring the world simultaneously. Each company includes an orchestra to accompany its dancers.
“It works very well. The orchestra is very tight, extremely exact,” said Mr. Anderson.
Shen Yun’s conductor watches the dancers closely so that the orchestra can deliver every beat exactly as the dancers need. Mr. Anderson was highly impressed with the way Shen Yun’s orchestra and dancers executed every movement and every beat together.
“The execution of the dancers hitting their spots, hitting their marks on stage at exactly the right time. That’s very hard,” he said.
The time around the holidays is when artists are busy with performances. Mr. Anderson expressed his happiness at having gotten the time to see Shen Yun.
“We’ve wanted to see it for years, but it’s around the holiday season. It’s our working season, so it’s hard for us to find time to do it, but we finally did,” he said.
Debby and Richard Gilton at the Shen Yun Performing Arts performance at Gallo Center for the Arts—Mary Stuart Rogers Theater, in Modesto, on Jan. 8, 2024. (Mark Cao/The Epoch Times)
Richard Gilton, CEO of Gilton Solid Waste Management, and his wife, Debby, were also in the audience.
Mrs. Gilton was amazed at the production that Shen Yun presented and remarked that Shen Yun’s ability to put on an all-new production year after year was amazing.
“I love the dancing. I can’t imagine them doing complete new things every year. I mean—the work that they put into it and everything is just amazing. They can do this year after year,” she said.
Shen Yun’s orchestra blends traditional Chinese instruments with a classic Western ensemble, creating a sound that is not commonly heard by most American audiences.
“I like the way that they’ve added some ancient [Chinese] instruments. That’s really neat to be able to see because I’ve never seen one before. So it’s very educating,” said Mrs. Gilton.
Shen Yun uses classical Chinese dance as a vessel for storytelling. From ancient to modern-day China, Shen Yun strives to depict each part of history truthfully. One such story is of Falun Gong practitioners who are persecuted for their faith.
Mr. Gilton expressed that freedom is something everyone should have.
“We know we have freedom here in America, and other countries need freedom too,” he said.
In the 1990s, Falun Gong spread quickly due to its immense benefits to the body and mind. However, the Chinese Communist Party saw its growing popularity as a threat and began persecuting the peaceful group in 1999.
Shen Yun’s artists are also Falun Gong practitioners, and they are using their art to raise awareness of the crimes against humanity still happening in China today.
“It’s nice to hear that you can practice that here and not have to worry about the persecution [happening] in [China],” said Mr. Gilton.
