LOS ANGELES—John Eminger, formerly the first mayor of Big Bear Lake, CA, and his wife, Jackie Eminger, a former violinist, traveled 100 miles to see Shen Yun Performing Arts for their anniversary. They saw the sold out performance at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Jan. 27.
Mr. Eminger is currently serving on the board of directors of the Big Bear Municipal Water District.
Mrs. Eminger said she began taking violin lessons at the age of 6. By the age of 11 she was playing with orchestras in Orange County, and since then with orchestras throughout the United States. She also played with the Mid-Hudson Valley Philharmonic in New York, and the Pacific Symphony in Orange County.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Eminger with thrilled to watch Shen Yun.
“Love it! Love it,” Mr. Eminger said. “The color and the dancing and the music is just wonderful.”
Shen Yun travels the globe reviving the divinely inspired, 5,000 years of Chinese culture, according to the company’s website.
Classical Chinese dance is the core of the performance.
“Built on traditional aesthetics, it was once passed down among the people, in imperial courts, and through ancient plays,” according to Shen Yun’s website. “Over thousands of years, it was constantly refined, eventually developing into the vast and distinctly Chinese dance form we know today.”
The dance form is accentuated by handmade costumes, an orchestra that melds East and West, and digital backdrops.
“I just think the way they come into the screen and go off the screen is just amazing,” Mr. Eminger said, referring to the dancers seeming to seamlessly become digital characters at times during the performance. “I think that’s the most impressive thing to me.”
Mr. Eminger described the very deep feelings he experienced from the traditional Chinese culture saying, “It was very nice, I enjoy it very much.”
Mrs. Eminger offered her impressions of the Shen Yun Peforming Arts Orchestra, which blends classical Western and traditional Chinese instruments, including the erhu, dizi, pipa, and suona.
“It is so wonderful—I just can’t believe it,” she said. “I play the violin, and I am so thrilled with the way the music is being played. That is the hardest violin music I have ever heard.”
Mr. Eminger offered his final thoughts urging others to see the show. “Anybody, everybody, I would tell them to come and see it, definitely,” he said. “It’s well worth the effort and the price.”
Reporting by Mandy Huang, Albert Roman, and Masha Savitz.
Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, tours the world on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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