WASHINGTON—The core values of China’s 5,000-year-old culture were displayed in full as Shen Yun Performing Arts played at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington D.C. on Sunday, March 25.
Angel Acevedo, a government analyst, attended Sunday’s performance with his wife, Annie Acevedo, a bank teller. “Everything is so perfect,” Mrs. Acevedo said.
She noted that the orchestral music was “really uplifting,” adding later that “music [and] art can really make people, everybody, understand and come together.”
“I think it’s a way to express your culture and for people from other cultures to embrace it,” she added.
While Shen Yun’s main form of expression is classical Chinese dance, the company also features a unique orchestra that joins together Western and Chinese instrumentation, the company’s website states.
The couple also noted that the company’s use of costuming in combination with the choreographed dancers was well done. Mr. Acevedo said the costumes, which according to Shen Yun are hand-made by the company itself, had “vivid colors.”
They both said they were particularly impressed by the piece The Choice, which depicts the modern-day persecution of Falun Gong, which is a traditional spiritual practice that has five sets of meditative exercises.
‘Incredibly Creative’
Dave Ballard, the president of a small financial planning company in the Washington D.C. area, was particularly impressed by the dancer’s use of “beautiful colors” throughout the performance. Adding further, he lauded the digital backdrop used during each piece, calling it “incredibly creative.”
The digital backdrop is full of motion and depicts a number of scenes, ranging from pastoral landscapes in ancient China, forested mountains, or fields of flowers.
The show’s producers were “very creative in this type of show. They kind of merged traditional Chinese dancing with modern technology; pretty amazing actually,” Mr. Ballard said.
The hallmark of Shen Yun, however, is classical Chinese dance, which according to the company, is rooted in China’s 5,000-year-old culture. The dance is considered one of the most comprehensive and influential in the world, requiring a great deal of mastery.
Reporting by Lisa Ou and Jack Phillips.
Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, tours the world on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company will perform at The Kennedy Center Opera House, Washington, D.C., through April 1.
For more information visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
