LOS ANGELES—Angelenos were transported to a majestic and mythical world by the Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company, capturing China’s traditional culture in dance and music.
Among the audience members at the sold out Dorothy Chandler Pavilion this afternoon, Jan. 14, was Ms. Eleanor Moye, a retired employer at the Walt Disney studio, and Julie, who holds a senior executive position in an international entertainment company.
“Oh I thought it was beautiful. It was lovely,” beamed Julie. “Each individual piece was absolutely lovely. It was a delight.”
Among the many unique aspects of Shen Yun is its orchestra, which blends both Chinese and Western instruments.
“I loved it. I really did. There’s something about a live orchestra, always, that is just wonderful. And you can hear both kinds of instruments. Beautifully done. I really enjoyed it,” said Ms. Moye.
Julie added that she appreciated the erhu, a two-stringed Chinese instrument that is played with a bow. “It makes such a beautiful sound and it’s so expressive.”
“I was watching the fingering and it’s like a violin. Beautiful sound,” noted Ms. Moye of Xiaochun Qi’s piece, A Song for the Heart.
Julie commented on China’s 5,000 years of culture: “Of another nationality that has a true culture consistently going back five thousand years, I can’t think of one. I can’t even imagine that, I mean for us having only a little over 200 years, I can’t imagine five thousand. It’s extraordinary.”
“I came to it with a bit of context because [someone] spoke to our rotary club and he gave a presentation. It leaves me wanting to learn more. I think it’s a wonderful production. Because the variety, especially when they bring in a couple of the ethnic things so you get tradition.” said Julie.
Ms. Moye agreed, saying, “Yes I really enjoyed that. … Much of my background is the United Kingdom I guess, and so I say that Chinese had a sophisticated civilization.”
Ms. Moye, who had never heard of the legend of the Monkey King, very much enjoyed the dance depicting the famous story from the classic Chinese novel, The Journey to the West. “They were very good at portraying it. A cheeky kind of dancing, personality, they got it correct.”
“The balance of drama and humor throughout is really nice as well. Like the crazy … monk, yes, that was a really cute piece. And the happy monks, the boys playing for fun, and the way they finished it. It was really interesting to see the Buddha resemblance from this because in my time of growing up, one doesn’t associate the Buddha with China. You know today, in today’s culture, you wouldn’t associate it. So to see it so represented, it’s interesting,” said Julie.
Among the dances, today’s persecution in China of Falun Dafa, a spiritual practice with roots in traditional Chinese culture, was also depicted.
“I think again it introduced something to me,” said Julie, about the repression of freedom of belief happening in China. “It made me think a lot about the whole history of spiritualism. My personal belief is there is a spiritual foundation in the universe and I can’t imagine living in a place where you’re not supposed to have a relationship with the spirit. That would be odd and I so can’t imagine how anybody thinks that’s going work very long at all.”
Ms. Moye offered her perspective of the Chinese regime’s attack on religious freedom, “Yes I think it’s condemning to human nature. You know spirituality will come out.”
Reporting by Lu Rusong 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]
