HAMILTON, Canada—Attending the Shen Yun Performing Arts opening show at Hamilton Place on Saturday night was a real treat for Lacey Benedetti, a dance teacher in the public school system at the elementary level.
It was her first time seeing Shen Yun and the classical Chinese dance it showcases—an ancient art form evolved over the ages in China.
“It was so interesting to see the combination of powerful movements and graceful movements, and just how the elements were all equally treated. It was beautiful,” she said.
“[The dancers] obviously have spent so many years being trained, at least that’s the assumption, and just very powerful and precise. So it was neat to see how their costuming factored in and they were able to manage such wonderful, large fabrics and make that look so effortless.”
She was particularly impressed with the large-scale, synchronized dances.
“I was quite taken with the formations and the treatment of groupings and I thought that the dancers had an exactness and precision in working together through the choreography—just the attention to detail in how they were able to achieve such visual results together was wonderful.”
Shen Yun brings China’s ancient classics to the stage, such as the tales of heroine Mulan and the renowned General Yue Fei, giving dramatic portrayal to cherished stories of the past.
“I was just saying when we left the performance, I hope to take all of this back. It would have been nice to record some of it so I could share that with [the students], but maybe I can just encourage them to come next year—set up a field trip,” she said.
She was also impressed with Shen Yun’s animated backdrops, which serve to enhance the particular story-based dance being played out on stage.
“I really enjoyed the integration of multimedia and how they were able to use the screen as a jump-off and launch point. How they could create a multi-dimensional world there with only those four walls and how they could leap off the stage—or make it appear that way—and how they were emerging from the background. That was really an interesting way of showing that,” she said.
Reporting by NTD Television and Joan Delaney
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.
