SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Shows French Audience Something ‘Transcendental’

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Shen Yun Shows French Audience Something ‘Transcendental’
Hélène Chevillotte, a commercial editor, enjoyed Shen Yun at the Cité des Congrès in Nantes on April 5, 2023. NTD

NANTES, France—The best of traditional Chinese culture was back at the Cité des Congrès where the Shen Yun Performing Arts Global Company took to the stage in Nantes from April 3 to 5.

On Wednesday, April 5, Hélène Chevillotte, a commercial editor, was among the spectators.

“It’s a wonderful show! I really admired the costumes, the physical prowess, the coordination, the sceneries, the choreographies. There is a lot of rhythm, it’s very fast-paced. You are taken by the dances, by the different stories that are told.”
New York-based Shen Yun, founded in 2006, is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company.

Having practiced Western classical dance, Ms. Chevillotte was “impressed by the high level of the classical Chinese dancers.”

She thus stressed the importance of “keeping China’s traditions alive ... These performances, the dances keep it alive. It keeps alive both technically, culturally, and spiritually as well.”

‘It Was So Light’

Catherine Evrard enjoyed Shen Yun in Nantes on April 5, 2023. (NTD)
Catherine Evrard enjoyed Shen Yun in Nantes on April 5, 2023. NTD

Catherine Evrard, a former saleswoman, came to experience Shen Yun for her birthday. She also practiced classical dance in the past. She thought the choreography “was perfection!”

“There’s a lot to look at because I was watching the arms, the legs! It was so light. Indeed, you could see the sky, you could see everything, the human... I enjoyed it very much and I am delighted!”

In addition to the classical Chinese dance, Mrs. Evrard enjoyed “the blending” she heard in the music, a classical Western orchestra with ancient Chinese instruments playing Chinese melodies. “I thought it was a very good match.”
She was sensitive to the “humor” in some of the dance narratives, bringing both lightness and depth, depending on the story being told.

‘Deep Human Values’

Stéphane Buffetaut is deputy mayor of the town of Apremont, near Nantes. He enjoyed the artistic level of the dancers: “The dancers achieve a very high degree of technicality and grace in their movements.”
Stéphane Buffetaut, deputy mayor of Apremont, at the Cité des Congrès in Nantes on April 5, 2023. (NTD)
Stéphane Buffetaut, deputy mayor of Apremont, at the Cité des Congrès in Nantes on April 5, 2023. NTD

“It’s shimmering, it’s pleasing to the eye and the music is interesting, because you can feel the Chinese-inspired music but revisited in a contemporary way,” he said, referring to Shen Yun’s orchestra, which is unique because it combines traditional Chinese music instruments such as the erhu, pipa, and percussion, with a Western symphony orchestra.

This elected official was also moved by the messages and the human values conveyed by Shen Yun.

“Civilizations are ancient and they were founded on deep human values. This is true of China, as it is of France. In France, we also had a revolution. In Vendée, wide scale massacres were carried out by the French Republic; the past cannot be wiped out. The past feeds the present and to want to wipe the slate clean is a great mistake!”

“There is a message that moves me, because it is an anti-communist message,“ he continued, explaining that Shen Yun can ”show that not everything is material or materialistic. In China, the [regime’s] doctrine is historical materialism. And it [Shen Yun] shows that, on the contrary, there is something else than this materialism.”

For Mr. Buffetaut, the show expressed the existence of a connection to the divine.

“When the singer is on stage ... the text [lyrics] itself, we see that it is spiritual. Then, on several occasions, there are references to heaven, to men coming from heaven ... It’s a transcendence.”

“I’m Catholic, so by definition I’m very attached to transcendence and the connection between the human and the divine.”

‘A Feeling of Happiness’

Dorian Nizon, a physician, and Léna Renard, a psychologist, said they were impressed by Shen Yun, which they found both “energizing” and “soothing.”
Dorian Nizon, a doctor, and Léna Renard, a psychologist, attended Shen Yun in Nantes on April 5, 2023. (NTD)
Dorian Nizon, a doctor, and Léna Renard, a psychologist, attended Shen Yun in Nantes on April 5, 2023. NTD

“It’s very fluid, the choreography is very well organized,” said Mr. Nizon.

In ancient China, traditional Chinese medicine considered music as a form of therapy.

For Mr. Nizon, Shen Yun’s music “is soothing, it’s calming. It’s a feeling of happiness that is very pleasant.”

Ms. Renard added, “It’s enough to make you forget all your everyday problems because it takes you somewhere else. At least, that’s really the impression I got!”

“It makes you want to believe in the spiritual, in something that is beyond us and transcendent, because of everything that comes out of the show.”

“The fact of being carried like that on a daily basis by beautiful values, calm, serenity ... it allows us to be more at peace on a daily basis and to give the best of ourselves,” she concluded.

Reporting by NTD and Sarita Modmesaïb.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
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