MELBOURNE, Australia—"I did like, was it the flowing dancing sleeves it was called? [Flowing Sleeves] The way that that was introduced, coming off the screen, disappearing off the screen, and then the ladies coming in on the stage with these beautiful flowing sleeves, and I’m trying to work out how they fitted all that material to fit into the sleeve.”
Ms. Boyd creates clothes. When she saw Shen Yun Performing Arts in Australia her professional curiosity was piqued. Many around the world have noted the remarkable costumes of Shen Yun. They are richly coloured, hand sewn silks, and people often comment on their beauty. Ms. Boyd wanted to understand how the dresses were structured for the dance Flowing Sleeves. Very long pale peach sleeves are integral to the choreography. The voluminous sleeves are attached to fitted light blue dresses. Original costumes have been designed and sewn for the show each year since the world tours’ inception in 2006.
She said, “I’m trying to work that out while I’m watching these beautiful women dancing.
“I thought that the whole dancing, the costumes, the screening at the back of the show, it just all blended in, it was just absolutely magnificent. Oh, I could just watch it again and again. And I wished I had those slim figures.”
As she watched and listened “I felt very peaceful. It was all beautiful.”
Ms. Boyd said the show was “Magnificent. Mind-boggling really, mind-boggling, because I’ve never seen anything like that here in Australia, and I just thought it was wonderful.”
The narrative dances are based on folk traditions, legends, current events, and historic dynasties. The masters of ceremonies explain each dance in Chinese and the host countries’ language. Lyrics for the vocal solos are projected behind the singers, along with scenes or landscapes relevant to the music.
“You don’t have to be talking on the stage, the dancing tells the story. And it was just wonderful, peaceful, it explained everything you were looking at. The costumes, the colouring, and that, it was just gorgeous,” said Ms. Boyd.
This article was written with files from NTDTV, a media partner of the Epoch Times.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Shen Yun Performing Arts 2009 World Tour. For more information please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
