BUENOS AIRES—Economist Daniel Krumpholz attended the Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company’s performance with his wife at Teatro Ópera Citi on Dec. 15, 2012. He left in awe of the show’s culture, technology, and visual effects.
“The stories they were telling through the show were very, very interesting—we [could] see things that happened thousands of years ago,” Mr. Krumpholz said, adding he came to the show due to recommendations from friends.
According to their website, New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premiere classical Chinese dance and music company.
Formed in 2006, Shen Yun aims to revive 5,000 years of divinely-inspired Chinese culture through story-based dances.
Mr. Krumpholz said the traditional Chinese culture and art forms presented in Shen Yun represented an “advanced culture.”
“It is an advanced culture that will obviously set a mark—it already does today—for the future of the human race,” he explained. He added that he would describe Shen Yun as full of “peace, love, and fortune for everybody.”
Shen Yun’s digitally animated moving backdrops were a pleasant surprise, said Mr. Krumpholz, because he had never seen such technology used by any other performance company.
He was especially delighted with the interaction between the dancers and the backdrop—which appeared as though the dancers could jump in and of the screen as the stories played out.
“You suddenly see someone coming out of or going into the screen, and it simulates a depth of tri-dimensionality, which makes it really positive and agreeable,” Mr. Krumpholz said.
“That is very interesting and it surprises us because we are not used to this kind of [effect].”
According to the Shen Yun website the animated backdrops “transport the audience to another world.”
“Projected behind the dancers, the hi-tech images lift the stage and set it amidst blossoming landscapes, deep forests, Mongolian prairies, or celestial paradises,” states the website.
Mr. Krumholz also adored the costumes presented in Shen Yun, especially the elaborate dresses.
According to the Shen Yun website, costume designers stress “harmonic balance and contrast” and their objective is an “authentic presentation of the attire that comes from China’s divinely inspired traditional culture, and a consummate stage effect.”
“The wardrobe was amazing,” said Mr. Krumpholz. “The dresses are top level—I like the colors they have.”
Despite the excitement of the performance, Mr. Krumpholz said the music of Shen Yun’s orchestra and their original compositions left him feeling at peace.
“The music is not aggressive; the songs go hand-in-hand with peace, tranquility, and meditation,” he said.
The Shen Yun Orchestra is a unique blend of traditional Chinese and Western-style instruments.
Traditional Chinese instruments such as the two-stringed erhu, Chinese lute, and bamboo flute, are made from natural materials and designed to invoke complex and subtle emotions in the listener, according to the Shen Yun website.
The website also says: “Perhaps due to the fact that their materials originate from the natural world, they are adept at evoking scenes both natural and heavenly. Truly, the things that Chinese music is capable of expressing are both lofty and profound.”
With reporting by Miguel Diaz and Justina Wheale.
New York-based Shen Yun has three companies that tour the world each year on a mission to revive 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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