DETROIT—“It’s just so beautiful, and it’s just majestic,” said gospel singer Nikki Thomas about Shen Yun Performing Arts’ scenery. She and her husband saw the New York-based company’s performance on opening night of its five-day run at the Detroit Opera House.
Shen Yun aims to revive 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture by bringing their world-class dance and music to the world.
Mrs. Thomas, a community outreach therapist as well as experienced singer, twice having toured 20 cities in Italy with a gospel choir, was especially moved by the singing in Shen Yun.
“I was so engulfed with the singing … especially the soprano singer at the very end. She was phenomenal. I thought her voice and her projection; they didn’t need a microphone, nobody needed a microphone. It was fabulous; it was breathtaking actually.”
Shen Yun vocalists’ singing technique is the genuine bel canto tenor and soprano technique, and is very similar to the technique used by the “10 great tenors” of the past, according to Shen Yun’s website.
When asked what she thought of the lyrics, Mrs. Thomas said she had told her husband, “It’s amazing what you can enjoy, even when you don’t know what they were saying. He said ‘Well the words were above.’ I was like, ‘I know, but I didn’t really pay attention to the words,’ I was so engulfed in her performance. It was great!”
Other aspects of the show that captivated Mrs. Thomas were the backdrops and costumes. She was struck by how colorful it all was and was surprised at how the colors could be bold yet subtle at the same time. The elements had a peaceful effect on her as well.
“[Shen Yun] relaxed me, it soothed me, and the whole performance and the colors, and the scenery, it’s so beautiful … in a way kind of heavenly.”
“Everything, just the way they put it together, you kind of imagined, or I kind of imagined, that’s what heaven might be like.”
Reporting by Madalina Hubert & Vanessa Rios.
Shen Yun Performing Arts new York Company will perform at the Detroit Opera House through to Jan. 27. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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