SEOUL, South Korea—On the evening of April 15, the New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company put on a magnificent performance on its last South Korea leg in 2013 at Seoul’s Sangmyung Art Center. Among the celebrities who attended the show was Ms. Kim Joung-sook, speaker of Seoul’s Jiangdong District Council. After seeing the show, she exclaimed, “This is by far the best show I’ve ever watched.”
“Wow! I was really deeply stunned. I felt that the scenes on the backdrops transcended time and space of the stage. How on earth the scenes were made so vividly,” Speaker Kim praised in excitement.
She added, “The performers looked so vivid walking from the animated backdrops. It was really amazing. I was indeed very much impressed. The program was full of variety, and the dances as well as the music were very touching. It was definitely a super class performance.”
Exhilarated by Shen Yun’s folklore dances of minority ethnic groups in China, Ms. Kim explained, “I know that there are more than 50 ethnic minorities in China. In the show, Shen Yun did demonstrate the essence and characteristics of various ethnic groups’ cultures. The costumes and the floating celestial music were exhilarating and touching.
“Especially the live accompaniment played by the Shen Yun Performance Arts Orchestra composed of Eastern and Western musical instruments was so wonderful. They were coordinated seamlessly. I was really overwhelmed by their performance.”
After seeing the program depicting the scenes that higher beings came to the rescue of persecuted Falun Gong practitioners, she said: “In terms of the dances showcasing Falun Gong practitioners’ steadfastness in their belief over the past decade, which is part of China’s contemporary history, I have heard of these things. But I still don’t know the reason why it [the Chinese regime] suppresses Falun Gong, and does not accept it. I just cannot figure out the reason behind what China has done.”
Finally, she stressed, “This is by far the best performance I’ve ever seen. I really like it very much.”
‘The pinnacle of arts’
After seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company’s 2013 premiere in Seoul on the evening of April 16, Seoul City Councilor Bak Raehak expressed his delight. “It’s indeed a magnificent performance. The synchronization of the dynamic backdrops and the performance on the stage was so wonderful that the overall performance was marvelous and unforgettable. I'll try my best to see it again,” he said.
Fascinated by Shen Yun dancers’ superb dancing skills, Mr. Bak said: “The fairy-like female dancers’ exquisite performances with difficult skills were really touching. Their artistic level is beyond what we usually imagine. They are indeed the pinnacle of arts.
“They seemed to have undergone sublimation in terms of dancing arts. In particular, the female dancers’ tumbling skills were really amazing. Their bodies were so flexible and soft. I just don’t know how they could achieve such high-level artistic skills. This was indeed a spectacular performance. Those female dancers’ performances were just like the beautiful flowers.
“The show was more magnificent than what I imagined. Its artistic value is very high. Its costumes, music and dancing techniques are very outstanding,” he added.
In view of the fact that Shen Yun demonstrated traditional Chinese culture in artistic form, Mr. Bak said: “I feel Shen Yun’s performance today represented the traditional Chinese culture on the stage in artistic form. From the perspective of Korean, China has a very long history. And the history was distilled into a dancing system, which is of help to the promotion of the history. I feel it is magnificent.
“I think Korean culture and Chinese culture are quite similar, as both of them belong to the same oriental culture. In today’s performance, I was especially impressed with the different parts. Chinese dance is more comprehensive. It was so beautiful.”
Read the original Chinese articles. [1] [2]
Reporting by Zhao Runde and Bill Xu, Lee Jinhan and Amy Yu
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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