AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France—The city of Aquae Sextiae, the name given to Aix-en-Provence by the Romans in 122 B.C. because of its thermal springs, is hosting Shen Yun from Friday, Feb. 24.
Bernard Sabatier, a former telecom engineer in Fréjus, was there with his wife Eliane, a senior health executive.
“Extraordinary! Fabulous! You enter into a totally magical world,” enthused Mrs. Sabatier. “It was totally new to me because I don’t know the Chinese culture and, through this show, I can travel and then realize what this culture was before and what happened afterwards.”
“The images and the dances are wonderful. It’s very romantic, very visual and it allows you to discover a piece of China’s history. ”
Both experienced a strong emotion, Mr. Sabatier explained “It’s poignant, then it’s very invigorating! The stories are relatively simple but very touching.”
For Mrs. Sabatier, “we are in a celestial world, we are totally off the ground.”
“It is a historical epic, it is the transmission of brotherhood, of humanity, it’s all of that. It is magnificent!” she said.
Elvyna Desjardins and Pierre Klein both work for the French army. She is a civilian civil servant who manages contracts for the army, and he is a military engineer in the construction industry. Freshly arrived in Toulon, Mr. Klein took the opportunity to offer the experience of Shen Yun to his sweetheart for Valentine’s Day.
Mr. Klein particularly enjoyed the Tibetan dance, “because it is very dynamic, it is very joyful!” but thinks that “all the pieces are magnificent—in fact, we do not have a favorite one.”
‘Musical Score Was Perfect’
Jean-Philippe Leffré is a professional guitarist, also a concert performer, guitar teacher and investor. He came to experience Shen Yun with his daughter, of both French and Chinese descent.“The traditional Chinese and Western instruments go very well together. They perfectly accompany the dances and the stories. I don’t know who composed the music, but the musical score was perfect! Really good, very well directed, very well performed! The sound was not too loud, it was very, very good! We forgot there were musicians—we were enveloped in this kind of magic ... It is very, very beautiful!”
“Classical music transports the soul and connects us with the divine, so it elevates us spiritually. Music and arts in general, classical arts like dance, classical music. There is always a connection with the divine!”“When you’re in the presence of beautiful pieces like this, classical dance ... where everything is represented, the work, the technique, but also the art, it’s done to elevate the spirit and therefore to feel better, so you feel everything!”
Artistic Tradition
According to Shen Yun, “In the past, artists looked to the divine for inspiration. They would meditate and seek virtue. They believed that to create art that uplifts, they must first cultivate goodness.”As an artist, Mr. Leffré looks on the work of Shen Yun’s artists with a professional and a spiritual eye: “There is a lot of work, patience, efforts and connection with one’s inner self, of being at peace with oneself, of being patient ... And, of course, it brings a lot to the musicians and the dancers, to the whole team and the company. I think it brings a lot to them individually as well ... These are people who are necessarily good people, I think.”
Mr. Leffré feels that “a lot of people should come see it and appreciate its beauty. It would bring some joy, some inner peace back into people’s hearts.”
