‘Astonished and Amazed:’ Theater Reviewer Lauds Shen Yun

“It is something ethereal, something smooth. The colors are like a rainbow,” said Debora Berg in describing the overall performance.
‘Astonished and Amazed:’ Theater Reviewer Lauds Shen Yun
12/16/2012
Updated:
10/1/2015
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BUENOS AIRES—Theater reviewer Debora Berg found Shen Yun Performing Arts to have exemplary art direction and composition as it played in Argentina’s capital city on Saturday night.

“I just saw [a show that has] much emotion—a performance with extraordinary [values] in terms of art of direction and composition,” Ms. Berg said, about the show at the Teatro Ópera Citi. “I am astonished and amazed.”

Shen Yun says that it is reviving the customs and traditions passed down in China before much of those values were destroyed over six decades of communist rule, according to its website.

To do so, the company’s performers are well-trained in classical Chinese dance, which is said to express the inner meanings of the culture and allows for the dancers to perform in unison. There are also a wide range of colorful costumes, props, and an ever-present digital backdrop to provide context for each of the company’s stories.

“It is something ethereal, something smooth. The colors are like a rainbow,” said Ms. Berg in describing the overall performance.

“Their costumes have richness; I would say a spiritual richness,” she said, adding that “simply, one should come and see it.”

According to Shen Yun’s website, the company uses traditional Chinese culture, including principles such as wisdom, propriety, justice, and benevolence as its foundation in the performance. The performance also touches on the divinity of Chinese culture and the spirituality of the Chinese people that was nearly lost under decades of communist rule.

After viewing Shen Yun’s cultural tour-de-force, Berg said that “I feel lighter,” because it allows “one to escape” the daily grind.

“I have spent many years working in this field. I know musicals from almost the entire world, including the United States, England, Israel,” Ms. Berg said. But those shows cannot compare, she said, because “[Shen Yun] is something superior, just superior.”

With reporting by Axel Borgia and Jack Phillips.

Shen Yun will be in Buenos Aires at the Teatro Ópera Citi through Dec. 21.

New York-based Shen Yun has three companies that tour the world each year on a mission to revive 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture.

For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org

 

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