KNOXVILLE, Tenn.—In a word, Shen Yun Performing Arts is simply wonderful. That’s what Justina Patton thought after watching the opening performance of the New York-based classical Chinese dance and music company at the Tennessee Theatre on Tuesday night.
“It was vibrant, very beautiful. Just beautifully done, the dancing was phenomenal,” said Ms. Patton, an office manager.
“There is no other word to describe it in my opinion, I thought it was wonderful.”
With beautiful and masterfully choreographed dances, breathtaking scenes created on stage with state-of-the-art animated backdrops, and hundreds of hand made costumes, Shen Yun takes audience members on a journey from the early days of China’s ancient civilization all the way to modern times, presenting legends and stories from China’s culture as well as different dances from different regions and ethnicities of China.
“Sophisticated dance techniques, an orchestra joining instruments from both the East and West, beautiful costumes, and a stunning back drop—this is Shen Yun at first glance,” explains the Shen Yun website.
“But digging deeper, one discovers a sea of traditional Chinese culture. Mortals and divine beings merge on stage as one. Principles such as benevolence and justice, propriety and wisdom, respect for the heavens, and divine retribution, all come to life, washing over the audience.”
Ms. Patton said through the performance, she could see different facets of China presented, and the performance provided a broad view of China.
“It portrayed everything across the board—good, bad, evil,” Ms. Patton said.
Arlene Souza, a retired teacher and television producer, who accompanied Ms. Patton to the performance, touched on Shen Yun’s mission to revive China’s rich culture.
“I think that the spirit of a country, their culture, should never be eradicated. A country’s culture should always bloom and grow, and it should be shared with the world,” she said.
‘Shen Yun ’Very Entertaining’
Cynthia Pfaf, a retired hospital administrator, enjoyed all the beautiful, bright colors on Shen Yun cosutmes.
“The colorfulness, all of the costumes are beautiful,” Ms. Pfaf said.
She said Shen Yun also had an educational aspect for her, as it informed her of some of the oppression in today’s China.
“It’s very certainly entertaining, but I think just knowing that’s the traditional culture is very interesting to us, I didn’t know much about it,” Ms. Pfaf said.
John Pfaf, a retired school administrator, was equally impressed with Shen Yun.
“I’ve never experienced something like this before, so it was very enjoyable for me,” he said.
Reporting by Sherry Dong
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reaction since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006
