SAN FRANCISCO—Shen Yun Performing Arts continued to bring classical Chinese dance to the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House on Saturday, Jan. 7. Dancer Diane Woodbury, who says it’s easier for her to communicate through movement than words, eloquently expressed her joy at seeing the performance.
“It was fabulous, absolutely fabulous. ... I studied ballet with San Francisco ballet from the time I was very young, and then I danced professionally worldwide. I was dancing a lot in Japan, actually. In fact the snowflake one reminded me of Mt. Fuji during the winter. It was just beautiful, so beautiful,” she said.
In the dance Snowflakes Welcoming Spring, dancers take small, quick steps through snowy fields as they skillfully spin and twirl sequined handkerchiefs, as the program book describes it.
As a dancer, Ms. Woodbury looks at the performances with a different eye than most people. She said the choreography was fantastic.
“What amazed me, I think, the most, was their ability to—from a standstill—jump into a full split in the air and come down and make it look like it was just effortless. It was just—it’s amazing. The amount of training that it takes to be able to do something like that—I’ve been dancing my whole life and even at my best, when I was dancing every day, it was really hard for me.”
She appreciated a lot of moves—because she’s had ballet, Middle Eastern dance, and Russian folk dance, but classical Chinese dance goes beyond that.
She wonders, “Why wasn’t this around when I was a baby?! I would have loved to have done—it’s just incredible. It’s like all of the dance forms coming together in one. It’s beautiful. It’s like watching world dance, which is what I call what I do. It’s amazing. It’s beautiful.”
On its website, Shen Yun tells about their creative backdrop: “Animated backdrops transport the audience to another world. Projected behind the dancers, the hi-tech images lift the stage and set it amidst blossoming landscapes, deep forests, Mongolian prairies, or celestial paradises.”
Ms. Woodbury was delighted by the backdrops, saying, “That was fabulous! That was incredible! I love the way it just blended in, and then they come out—I loved it. ... It was really great.”
To her friends, she would say: “I'll tell them they have to see it. Fantastic. The art and the colors, the use of colors ... it’s just really, really spectacular. I really, really appreciate it.”
She took away with her some thoughts for the world. “Peace. To bring world peace. Really, because it’s just so difficult.”
Reporting by Gary Wang and Diane Mathias.
Shen Yun’s New York Company will be in San Francisco until Jan. 8, and then continues on to L.A. Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3WTKCEA4tE[/video]
