SEOUL, South Korea—Mr. Park Jae-Geun watched Shen Yun Performing Arts’ final performance at Seoul’s Sang Myung Art Center on April 16. He said he experienced a very strong message. “The performance subtly shows us how to live and how the history came about since the beginning of mankind ... and the message is Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.”
Mr. Park is the chairman of Ballet Financial Groups, president of the Dancing Teachers’ Association, and a professor of dance at Sang Myung University.
“The performance is a combination of history and art; it’s extraordinary. The perfect dancing movements carry a strong message. The message skilfully links all the themes in the programs. This is the third time I have watched Shen Yun. Every time it is a novelty for me, and every time I feel that the message gets stronger,” he said.
“That message is Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. The performance subtly shows us how to live and how the history came about since the beginning of mankind. I am in the dancing business and I know it is not easy to do this through dancing. Shen Yun did it in a very subtle way. Excellent!”
Through Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, “Shen Yun simply, yet precisely, reveals its purpose of existence,” said Mr. Park.
‘Overwhelmed by the performance’
After attending the Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company’s performance at Seoul’s Sangmyung Art Center on the evening of April 16, Mr. Cheng Baijane (translation name), Deputy Speaker of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, said, “I was truly overwhelmed by the performance.”
Amazed by the two-hour performance of classical Chinese dance, along with the life-like backdrops, and live accompaniment by the Shen Yun Orchestra playing Chinese and Western musical instruments, the Deputy Speaker said, “This is my first time seeing the imaginary scenes related to the content of dramas or other performances on the stage so vividly. It is amazing that the figures on the backdrops would seemingly appear in front of us on the stage. This kind of performance is really hard to come by.”
“I think Shen Yun performances are for the promotion of traditional culture. We also appreciated some traditional costumes and Han Couture. As to the programs depicting Chinese martial arts and the vocalists’ solos, they were very good as well. In addition, the overall coordination was excellent. It was indeed a fantastic show,” he said.
“It is something beyond our imagination. I was very excited when attending the show. I felt something special in the bottom of my heart, but it is beyond words. I was really moved today. The live accompaniment was great as well.”
Especially impressed by the scenes on the high-tech animated backdrops, Mr. Cheng said, “I just don’t know how to express (my feelings.) The dancers seemingly walked out of water in the river, and jumped from the backdrops onto the stage. These scenes are really fantastic. There were the scenes that something liked a dragon or a monster jumped out of the water. There were also the dance dramas depicting peaceful life in ancient times. In addition, there were some stories portraying the saying that good begets good, and evil leads to evil. If the program could be watched by more children it would be great.”
Deputy Speaker Cheng concluded by saying, “Watching Shen Yun helped me gain more courage for my political career. The performance also let me see the connotations that I had never imagined and helped me gain more insight into the values of traditions. I was really overwhelmed.”
Read the original Chinese articles. [1] [2]
Reporting by Kim Jyeong-Aha, Hsin-Yi Lin and Bill Xu
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
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