SAN FRANCISCO—David Henderson, an attorney, has attended Shen Yun twice in Sacramento. “This is my third year. This year I brought my son, Matthew. We enjoyed it very much, and he was very impressed as well,” said the lawyer. They saw the final show of Shen Yun Performing Arts’ seven show run at the San Francisco War Memorial Opera House.

“We traveled over 1000 miles to be here. We started in Montana.... We came back early from vacation just so we would catch the last performance today in San Francisco,” he said.

Mr. Henderson thoroughly enjoyed the “spectacular performance” and the “spectacular venue,” the famous Opera House of San Francisco. “It is the best of the dance, the best of the singing, the choreography, and the multimedia, and the sound, the lighting - everything is superb.”

Mr. Henderson particularly liked the soloists. “They are so powerful and unique,” he said. According to company’s website, the fundamental characteristic of Shen Yun Performing Arts vocal soloists is their use of bel canto vocal technique while singing Chinese lyrics. This means that the singer must grasp the highly difficult technical requirements of bel canto operatic singing while retaining the proper Chinese articulation and diction. This is unparalleled today.

Mr. Henderson explained that the reason he kept coming to watch Shen Yun is that it is “new and different every year, so you won’t get tired or fatigued or bored from already having seen it. It has a new sparkle, a new charm. It is just masterfully put together.”

Mr. Henderson elaborated on “a new level” of Shen Yun dancers. He said that “they are obviously extremely athletic. It is like a combination of Martial Arts but in a smooth dancing form. You can’t blink your eyes for a minute or you will miss some of the best part of the movements. And then they put it in a story line, it has little episodes. This way they spotlight the different provinces of China.”

In 22 short pieces, says Shen Yun’s website, audiences are transported across space and time; from legends of the culture’s creation more than 5,000 years ago to modern-day China; from the Mongolian hinterlands to bursting gardens in mid-bloom; from the highest heavens to the dusty plateaus of the Middle Kingdom.

Being born in America, Mr. Henderson said that he is “not totally familiar with all of the different internal distinctions in China, but this is like a good and easy way to become more familiar with diversity of the culture within China. And you get a little lesson here because they will announce this is from a certain province or another province.”

“I like the originality of performances and the dance,” Mr. Henderson continued. “It is a beautiful blend of the traditional, but with the ingenuity and the multimedia ... everyone who has a chance if they have young people should bring them.”

The attorney remarked that “the idea that they [Shen Yun] have to preserve, protect and hand down their heritage is something that has a universal appeal.”

The attorney and his son were saddened to find out that Shen Yun cannot be seen in China today.
“We are so heart-stricken to hear that it cannot be performed in China. It is the ultimate irony. And we hope someday that it may be.”

Reporting by Gary Wang and Nataly Teplitsky.

Shen Yun’s New York Company will continue on to Costa Mesa and then Los Angeles, starting January 11. Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.

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Attorney Travels 1000 Miles To Catch Shen Yun in San Francisco