NAGOYA, Japan—Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company arrived at the Aichi Prefectural Arts Theater on April 26 and began its storytelling from China’s 5,000 years of history. Ms. Inagaki Sikiko, master of the Inagaki School of Japanese Dance, brought five of her students to watch the performance. They did much applauding, and after the show, they talked with excitement about their experience of Shen Yun.
Being an expert of and a researcher of Japanese dance, Ms. Inagaki was overwhelmed and amazed by the classical Chinese dance. “Japanese dance does not have the kind of spinning and somersaults as in Chinese dance. Chinese dance is rich and expressive. Also, with that many people dancing together with the highly uniform movements, it’s overwhelmingly amazing. They must have put in a lot of hard work because this achievement is truly unbelievable,” she said.
Ms. Inagaki said it was incredible that the live music, dance, and the animated backdrops were so well coordinated and complimented one another so perfectly, “seamless,” she said.
The ladies in the group particularly enjoyed the dances Dancing for the Gods, When Shaolin Monks Protected the Emperor, and A Legacy of Grace. They couldn’t wait for their turn to express their feelings.
“It’s stunning with that many beautiful girls dancing so gorgeously in uniform movements,” one student said.
“The small apron in front of them was adorable,” said another.
Several of the ladies expressed that it was such a pity that such a spectacular performance was not allowed to be shown in China because communist ideology conflicts with traditional values.
They promised to come back next year and see Shen Yun again.
‘Scale of the representation is spectacular’
Japanese dance performer, Tatsuya Asano, attended the performance of Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company at Aichi Prefectural Arts Theater Big Hall, Nagoya, on April 26.
Mr. Asano said his first impression of the Shen Yun performance is “magnificent.” “The scale of the representation is spectacular.”
Being a professional dancer, Mr. Asano described his feelings about classical Chinese dance presented by Shen Yun. “In [classical] Chinese dance, performers dance in a wide scope. ... In addition, the dancers are lithe and elastic. I felt great. If only I could dance like them!”
Mr. Asano praised the high-tech backdrop, which is a unique feature of the Shen Yun performance. He said: “It’s a wonderful innovation. The backdrop perfectly matched the dancers on the stage. [It seemed like] people jumped into and flew out [of the backdrop]. I enjoyed it very much. It’s worthy of Japanese dance learning from.”
There is no language or conversation in the program, but Mr. Asano said he could totally understand the stories. “With the backdrop, I could fully understand the stories. It’s easy to catch it. Though they have different stories in different scenes, the overall program was very smooth. So it’s easy to understand. It’s very interesting. It’s an enjoyable feast,” he said.
In conclusion, Mr. Asano said: “Japanese culture was mainly passed from China in ancient times, including Buddhism, etc. So we’re familiar with the stories that gods and Buddha will descend to the world to save people. Things like Shaolin Temple are famous in Japan. The program When Shaolin Monks Protected the Emperor is very interesting.
Read the original Chinese articles. [1] [2]
Reporting by Xiao Lei and Hsin-Yi Lin, Lu Yong and Lisa Huang
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
