SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun, ‘I Will Remember It for the Rest of My Life,’ Says Soprano

Mar 04, 2022

LONDON, UK.—A beautiful piece of music is only given justice when the performer is behind every note and every word in the piece. Natasha Jouhl, a soprano, shared that the vocalists in Shen Yun Performing Arts were passionate about every word they sang.

“I think it’s amazing, the bass that I heard singing the one number was really so from the heart and so performed with passion and complete commitment to what he was singing about, it really came through so well,” said Ms. Jouhl. “You could definitely tell he was a bass and very accomplished in his techniques.

Shen Yun is based in New York and singers of the company are trained in the traditional bel canto style. The libretti used in Shen Yun’s performances are written by D.F., the company’s artistic director.

“Really amazing, very inspiring, forthcoming, kind of almost triumphant really. [The] words that will appeal to so many people on so many different levels. It was really moving,” she said.

Dance, like singing, takes years of practice to master. Shen Yun’s dancers are trained in classical Chinese dance. Without the use of words, the dancers are able to tell moving stories with the help of the live orchestra.

“The discipline of the performers is amazing. They’re so completely on top of every move that they do, there’s not anything out of place. It’s all completely synchronized and you can tell that [they] put in hours and hours of work to make it completely, in line with the person next to them and even the whole stage of what they’re doing, it’s just wonderful,” said Ms. Jouhl.

Audience members often comment on the sense of calm they feel when attending Shen Yun. The company strives to present the best parts of Chinese culture—before communism—everywhere they go.

“I think the energy is very peaceful [and] also uplifting at the same time. You really feel like it’s from the heart, from the soul. It’s just really wonderful to watch,” said Ms. Jouhl.

The artists of Shen Yun not only train together, but they also do the meditation practice of Falun Dafa. The practice is being persecuted in China but the Chinese communist party could not prevent the popularity of the practice from spreading around the world.

“It has a certain sense of spirituality and emotional calmness that I think only something like meditation could give you because you never feel for a moment that they are out of control or not in complete understanding of their bodies and what they can add to the performance. So I applaud them for that, it’s such a calming thing to watch,” Ms. Jouhl said.

If she had a chance to speak to the artists in person, she would say, “Wow! Bravo! Encore! It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. The commitment to you and what you offer is truly astounding, and it’s not like anything I’ve seen before and I will remember it for the rest of my life.”

Reporting by NTD and Maria Han.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.