NEW YORK—Shen Yun Performing Arts opened its inaugural performance at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theatre in Manhattan on Jan. 10 to an enthusiastic audience.
Coming to see the performance on Friday evening were Ira Mofsowitz, a real estate professional, and his girlfriend Terri Speiser, president of contemporary and modern brands at the clothing company Chaus Inc.
Mr. Mofsowitz said he enjoyed the Shen Yun performance a lot.
“It was very nice, very colourful … I will come to see it again next year,” Mr. Mofsowitz said.
Ms. Speiser said she enjoyed seeing the themes of good triumphing over evil in the storylines of the dance performances.
“Almost like when you grow up and you learn … from your parents about good over evil and things like that. That’s what I thought was good, I enjoyed it very much,” Ms. Speiser said.
New York-based Shen Yun was formed by a group of leading classical Chinese artists who want to revive China’s divinely inspired culture.
“Through the universal language of music and dance, Shen Yun weaves a wondrous tapestry of heavenly realms, ancient legends, and modern heroic tales, taking you on a journey through 5,000 years of Chinese culture. Its stunning beauty and tremendous energy leave audiences uplifted and inspired,” says the Shen Yun website.
Inspiring
Also coming to the Friday evening performance was Shari Goodstein Rossi, chairwoman and CFO at Eagle Air, a private concierge charter company. Ms. Rossi had brought her daughter to the performance.
What drew Ms. Rossi to the performance was the colors she saw in advertisements and previews on the performance.
“When I saw the previews, I knew that was the show that I have to be on with here,” Ms. Rossi said.
“Because the color and just the vivid scenery and just the fabrics and the flow … all of that so inspired me and I wanted it for [my daughter].”
Shen Yun’s talented dancers don meticulously designed costumes for different scenes of the performance. A Shen Yun performance features hundreds of colorful handmade costumes. The performances also feature state-of-the art animated backdrops that set the stage with breathtaking scenes from heavenly realms to imperial courts.
Noting that she was a gymnast herself, Ms. Rossi said she fell in love with the classical Chinese dance presented by Shen Yun.
According to the Shen Yun website, classical Chinese dance is an ancient art form passed down from thousands of years ago. Many of the moves seen in today’s gymnastics and acrobatics performances in fact originate from classical Chinese dance.
“Classical Chinese dance is rich with expressive power. Through expression of bearing and form, beautiful dance movements bring out the inner meaning of intrinsic thoughts and feelings, reflecting the peculiarities of human nature, the standard for human conduct, moral concepts, mental state, one’s value system, and so on,” says the Shen Yun website.
Ms. Rossi admired the physical and mental strength and discipline of the dancers to be able to put on such a high calibre performance.
“The discipline that it takes to hold those positions and strength … not just physical strength, emotional, perseverance to be able to perfect the art, is very inspiring to me,” she said.
Reporting by Huiwen Ji and Alec Wang
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
