LOS ANGELES—New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts sold out at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Jan. 14. “It’s spectacular. I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Tom Johnstone of the LAX Lennox Rotary Club. He is the superintendent of schools for the Wiseburn school district.
Speaking of How the Monkey King Came to Be, Mr. Johnstone said, “I really liked the monkey dance, the way they blended the background with the figures jumping into the foreground.” The projected backdrops appear to interact with the dancers in a unique way. “I’ve never seen that before. It was spectacular … we’re totally enjoying everything. ”
Mr. Johnstone praised the skill of the company artists. He said, “The dancing and the singing are fabulous … just the quality of the dancing and the quality of the singing is spectacular.”
The Shen Yun New York Company includes both large scale dances and vocal soloists who sing in bel canto style.
Mr. Johnstone said the effect of the music and the colorful silk costumes was “very, very animated.” The experience left him “excited, and it’s just beautiful. It’s inspiring.”
Mr. Johnstone spoke of the value of the company’s mission of preserving and reviving traditional Chinese culture. He said, “I love the culture element. It’s something. I can see why it’s so important to bring something like this back and preserve it for future generations.”
Elaborating on the shows’ mission, Mr. Johnstone said that he was not an expert on Chinese history, but he felt having the show here was valuable for American culture. “I can see that it’s something that is very, very important to pass down.” He said Shen Yun’s dancing, singing and costumes were “something that truly enriches a culture, and I feel I know a little more about China now that I’ve come to this.”
He said that Shen Yun was very good for children and students to see. “I think it has tremendous educational value. It’s extremely important for children to understand other cultures and really broaden their horizons and see the whole world, so I think this is a fantastic way of introducing our students to other cultures, to the Chinese culture, traditional Chinese culture,” said the educator.
A theme in the performance is a battle between good and evil, with good prevailing. Mr. Johnstone said, “I really, really liked that. That is a symbol that is the same in any culture no matter what you do, and they did a very good job with that. I loved it.”
He said his only regret was that it was the end of the 2012 run of Shen Yun in Los Angeles. He said, “I would encourage all my friends to come enjoy this too, and I’m only sad that this is the last performance, but hopefully Shen Yun will come back to Los Angeles.”
Reporting by Ye Ke and Masha Savitz
Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company will next perform in San Diego Jan. 19-22.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3WTKCEA4tE[/video]
