WATERBURY, Conn.—Shen Yun Performing Arts left the audience at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, Conn. in awe as it played its first show on Dec. 26.
Dianne Sullivan, a psychotherapist and chaplain at Dempsey Hospital at the University of Connecticut, attended the Monday evening performance of the New York based company.
“It’s very colorful and the performers are very talented,” she said. “And the animation in the back is very inventive, and the story line that they’re promoting arouses my curiosity, and I find it very interesting. Very good.”
Shen Yun’s aim is to promote China’s age-old traditional culture through the arts, according to the New York-based dance company’s website. It does this through a variety of ways, including dance-based drama, an inventive and colorful digital backdrop, and a lively orchestra that combines Western classical music with Chinese instrumentation.
“The precision of the dancers and the artistic direction of the dancers” was interesting, Ms. Sullivan said.
Other audience members were similarly impressed with the Shen Yun performers.
Christine Champangae, an office space designer, said she “really enjoyed” the performance. “It was something I have never seen before. It’s the first time I experienced Chinese dance,” she added.
The performers use classical Chinese dance to tell the stories on stage. “Classical Chinese dance has a long history of thousands of years, passed down continuously within the imperial palace and ancient Chinese theater and opera. Soaking up profound wisdom from every era and dynasty, it has become a complete system of dance embodying traditional aesthetic principles with its unique dance movements, rhythms, and inner meaning,” Shen Yun’s website states.
Mrs. Champangae said the dancers’ movements combined with the colorful costumes is “really fluid, the way it’s floating [and] the design of it.”
Bright colors adorn most costumes the dancers wear and draw upon historical design, including Tang Dynasty dress, Chinese imperial dragon robes, as well as ethnic Han, Manchurian, Tibetan, Dai, Mongol, and Uyghur clothing, the company’s website says.
With reporting by Stephanie Lam, NTD Television, and Jack Phillips
Shen Yun has three companies touring the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company will perform at the Palace Theater, Waterbury, through Friday, Dec. 30.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts
