LOS ANGELES—“It’s beyond words,” said Dr. Martin Schiff. Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company had been showing at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion last Saturday and Dr Schiff enjoyed himself immensely.
“It’s enjoyable, it’s exotic—so different and so precise.
“Beautiful dancing, so well coordinated,” said the physician and founder of Weight Thinkers, a weight loss organization.
A Shen Yun show consists of classical Chinese dance and music that includes instrumental performances and tenor and soprano soloists with a bel canto style of operatic singing.
The mission of Shen Yun is to revive China’s ancient culture, which has been ravaged in recent decades by the Chinese communist regime. It is a heritage that extends 5,000 years, the world’s oldest continuous culture.
Contributing to each dance piece is the digital backdrop that allows an extension to the stage.
“I feel like I’m in another world [when watching],” said Dr Schiff.
As the Shen Yun website explains, the backdrops are “magical windows” to different realms ... from open grasslands in one dance, to battlegrounds, Himalayan peaks or the Yellow River Delta in other dances.
“I love the orchestra, the costumes, and the dances,” said Dr. Schiff.
Besides classical Chinese dance, there are numerous ethnic and folk dances which round out the evening, says Shen Yun’s website. The designers stress harmonic balance and contrast.
Shen Yun’s Orchestra is unique, combining instruments from a Western philharmonic orchestra with traditional Chinese instruments such as the pipa or Chinese lute or the two-stringed erhu, or “Chinese violin”.
“Get a ticket and come over! You’re missing something. You'll enjoy it,” is what Dr. Schiff would tell his friends.
Reporting by Albert Roman and Ben Bendig.
Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3WTKCEA4tE[/video]
