DETROIT—The Honorable Judge Kirsten Hartig of Detroit’s 52nd District gave her verdict on the evening performance of Shen Yun Performing Arts, appearing at the Detroit Opera House, Saturday, Jan. 28: “It’s really beautiful and very informative.”
Since 2006, the New York-based Shen Yun company has “brought together the talents of world-class dancers, choreographers, singers and musicians from around the globe,” according to the 2012 program book. “They create an all-new production every year.”
Shen Yun aims to revive 5,000 years of divinely inspired Chinese culture. Using the performing arts, the company depicts the “values of benevolence, honor, propriety, wisdom, and sincerity, as well as a reverence for the gods and the heavens,” according to the company’s website.
Judge Hartig, honored as a Michigan Super Lawyer in 2009, enjoyed the precision of the dancers, saying, “they are exactly where they are supposed to be. All the jumps are exactly at the same time.”
In fact, in singling out one aspect that especially appealed to her, it was the dancer’s precision. But she enjoyed the whole performance. “I don’t ever focus on any one person, I just focus on the experience.”
Because the dances are introduced by bi-lingual hosts, the whole show is completely accessible. Judge Hartig appreciated that touch, “because the two people who come out tell you exactly what’s happening. … If it wasn’t for them, then I would feel lost but, with them, I know exactly what’s happening.”
She also enjoyed watching a different perspective on performance. “The Chinese culture is so focused on, not the individual but the group. So I feel that’s very cool. I loved seeing it.”
What Judge Hartig takes away from the experience, was that it was “very informative—it lets me know about Chinese culture in a way that I didn’t before.”
Reporting by Julia Song and Sharon Kilarski.
Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, tours the world on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. The International Company, one of Shen Yun’s three equally large companies, will perform in the Detroit Opera House, Detroit, through Jan. 29.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
