BUFFALO, N.Y.—Andrew Zito, a musician and owner of Front Room Studios, couldn’t find enough good things to say about Shen Yun Performing Arts after taking in the performance Wednesday at Shea’s Performing Arts Center.
“It was excellent, it was excellent. I can’t say anything...”
Zito has an appreciation for the spiritual elements of Chinese culture and has practiced Buddhism.
He said he left the performance with a deeper understanding and appreciation of China’s long history.
He said the presentation of 5,000 years of Chinese culture was “extremely interesting, extremely informing,” and he was drawn to the ancient stories told through classical Chinese dance.
He said the show reminded him of the inherent spirituality in human beings that is often forgotten, as well as the tribulations people suffer in the world.
“It kind of reminded me of a lot of things, of the self and humanity, and the world and the injustice amongst people who care and are considerate and kind and loving,” he said.
“It is something that I will never forget. It was the first time I came to see the show but I‘ll tell you what, I’ll be back next year, I wouldn’t miss this for the world. It’s just very enlightening, especially with people who aren’t so associated with the Chinese culture.”
He was also moved by Shen Yun’s unique orchestra which plays entirely new compositions each year with a combination of classical Chinese instruments leading the melodies while a philharmonic orchestra plays the foundation.
“The music was fantastic. I study and practice a lot of exotic scales and there’s the oriental scale in there and there’s a couple of different oriental scales in there that I particularly like, that I use in my music. It gives the music a different feel,” he said.
Mr. Zito plays guitar, drums, bass guitar, organ, piano and sings. He has a violin also that he plans to learn to play. Coincidentally, the Chinese two-stringed violin, or erhu, was particularly engaging for him.
“Oh I loved that thing, that was out of this world. ...How she played it and getting all those notes and everything just out of two strings was amazing. I loved it, it was fantastic. Can I get it and take it home with me?” he said, joking.
The music moved him in a profound and emotional way, he said.
“It made me feel the inside of myself, the inner me. It just filled me with the warmth. It made me see the inside, see me who I am inside.”
With reporting by NTD Television and Kristina Skorbach
Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, tours the world on a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. Following the Buffalo show, Shen Yun will perform 11 shows at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York from April 20 through to April 28. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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