FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.—“You can learn a lot about Chinese culture just coming here,” said Stefan Mojsilovic, referring to his experience at Shen Yun Performing Arts’ opening night at the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale.
On Friday, Feb. 10, New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company graced southern Florida with the beauty and wonder of classical Chinese dance and music, steeped in 5,000 years of divinely inspired culture.
Mr. Mojsilovic, who works in pharmaceuticals, was accompanied to the performance by Olja Marjanovic, a microbiologist. Ms. Marjanovic spent seven months in China recently. She said, “Here and there—completely different.” In contrast to her experience while in China, she described Shen Yun to be an “historical explanation.”
Mr. Mojsilovic added, “she [Ms. Marjanovic] told me you can’t just have anything like this there—in China.” He described Shen Yun as “really amazing.”
“Never seen anything like it,” he said.
The two of them praised the colors in the performance and the handmade costumes that span China’s dynasties, regions, and ethnic groups. With the costumes, “every detail is given meticulous attention and is the result of artistic inspiration and careful polishing,” says the Shen Yun website.
In addition to the costumes, much of the magic and color at a Shen Yun performance comes from the state-of-the-art digital projections, animated backdrops that act as windows to other realms.
Another audience favorite is the orchestra, which uniquely blends the sounds of East and West.
“The orchestra was really good. Yes, the whole performance,” said Ms. Marjanovic. “We had binoculars, we saw it.”
“The orchestra, everything. The songs were amazing!” said Mr. Mojsilovic.
Classical Chinese dance embodies traditional aesthetic principles, unique dance movements, rhythms, and inner meaning. It has three main aspects: bearing, form and technical skill. With these combined, classical Chinese dance is rich with expressive power, and can move the audience emotionally.
“It has a lot of meaning to it,” Mr. Mojsilovic said of the performance. “Amazing. I was impressed.”
Shen Yun will hold two performances—afternoon and evening—on Saturday, Feb. 11, and a matinee performance on Sunday, Feb. 12, at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Au-Rene Theater.
Reporting by Marie Yeung and Adam Miller.
Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company will perform at the Broward Center for Performing Arts, Fort Lauderdale, Feb. 10–12.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
