ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.—“Amazing!” said Paula Clay, a retired dance teacher. She had come with two friends to Shen Yun’s opening night performance at the Mahaffey Theater, April 26.
“I loved it! I loved it!” Ms. Clay said, adding that her son and daughter-in-law also loved it.
She said the music was “past amazing!” “I love music. It was gorgeous, it was gorgeous. And I collect everything from China, so that just makes it that much better.”
The retired dance teacher was especially struck by the dancing: “Oh my goodness, the leaps—everything!” She said her daughter, also a dance teacher, saw Shen Yun on April 23 in Fort Myers.
“Chinese dance is at the heart of what Shen Yun does. Known for its incredible flips and spins, and its gentle elegance, it is one of the most rigorous and expressive art forms in the world,” the Shen Yun website states.
“Amazing! I can’t even say much more than that, can you?” she said to her friend Mary Dossin.
‘Like a Dream’
“It was so beautiful. It was just beautiful!” Ms. Dossin said.
“Lovely colors, lovely movement. The whole thing was just like a dream.” Ms. Dossin, now retired, taught writing at the State University of New York for many years.
Ms. Dossin also loved the costumes. “The costumes were very elegant and lovely—the way they moved the costumes and really used them. We’re going to practice, right?” she said to her friends. “We’re having all of our sleeves lengthened,” she said, laughing along with her friends.
“Shen Yun’s costume artists collect countless designs of traditional attire, ranging from those of emperors, ministers, and generals to the everyday clothing of the common people. They use bright colors to tailor and recreate hundreds of new pieces each season,” the company’s website states.
Shen Yun will perform three more times at the Mahaffey Theater in the Progress Energy Center: Saturday, April 27, at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sunday, April 28, at 2 p.m. The company will complete this season’s Florida performances with engagements in West Palm Beach and Melbourne in the coming days.
Reporting by Teresa Liu and Louise Rothman
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.
