LOS ANGELES—President of the historic Hollywood Piano Company Glenn Treibitz had a wonderful time attending Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE, on March 22.
“It’s a great show!” said Mr. Treibitz. “Very impressive, and I really enjoyed the music a lot. It’s very relaxing and beautiful and very evocative.”
Shen Yun is a New York-based non-profit organization that was founded in 2006 with a wish “to revive the true, divinely inspired culture of China and share it with the world,” according to the company’s website.
A Shen Yun performance is focused on classical Chinese dance, but also includes live orchestral accompaniment with both Eastern and Western instruments, musical soloists, traditional folk dances, intricate handmade costumes, and a digital backdrop with vibrant displays that interacts with the performers on stage.
Mr. Treibitz is also a musician and composer, and he was very impressed with the orchestra.
“The orchestra is first-rate, very well in-tune and sounds great,” he said. “Our company provided the piano that you guys are using tonight, and the pianist is really good.”
“Also I really like the effects with the projection and the people coming out of the projection,” he added, commenting on the digital backdrop, which uses computer animation to allow the dancers to appear to do amazing feats from ancient Chinese legends, such as fly into the air or battle mystical beings. “It’s very well done.”
Overall, Mr. Treibitz was amazed at the scope of Shen Yun’s spectacular production, and he congratulated the performers on their hard work.
“Congratulations on a job well done,” he said. “I know that’s a lot of hard work out there, and you guys are executing it beautifully.”
‘Beautiful Costumes’
Bobby Razak, a film director and founder of Tapout Films, and film producer Nigel Hudson were also in Shen Yun’s audience at the Saturday performance and really enjoyed the experience.
“I think it’s amazing,” said Mr. Hudson. “Very athletic, very beautiful costumes, and just very, very elegant.”
Mr. Razak was a fan of the digital backdrop and appreciated the company’s unique way of using modern technology.
“I like the way they fuse the technology with the screen and the dance,” he said. “It’s quite high-tech as well, the way they did it. It’s pretty amazing. You have a concept, a little bit of traditional dance, but you fuse it with modern technology, which is kind of cool,” said Mr. Razak.
Mr. Hudson noticed that the dancers’ movements were very expressive and helped with telling the story and showing emotions.
Mr. Razak was very moved by a dance piece that showed the unjust persecution of people that practice Falun Dafa, or Falun Gong, in China. Falun Dafa is a spiritual cultivation practice that combines ancient Chinese teachings with meditation exercises.
“I was really emotional with that one about the meditation that’s banned from China for the last ten years, because that felt very emotional,” he said. “Very sad, but very beautiful at the end too.”
As is shown in a Shen Yun performance, Falun Dafa practitioners in China have responded to persecution with pacifism, and those overseas strive to help end the persecution and celebrate true Chinese culture by forming organizations such as Shen Yun Performing Arts. According to the website, Shen Yun now tours around the world, performing in over 100 cities every year, with standing ovations and sold-out shows, touching the hearts of millions.
Reporting by Mandy Huang and Sarah Le
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.
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
