VANCOUVER–Music producer Daniel Pellerin was in the audience at Shen Yun Performing Arts on Saturday, Jan. 17, and joined in the chorus of rave reviews.
“I thought it was fantastic,” he said after the evening performance at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
Mr. Pellerin is a musician and produces electronic music using a wide variety of instruments. He found Shen Yun’s musical compositions, as well as its east-meets-west orchestra and traditional Chinese instrumental performances, to be particularly inspirational.
“I really liked the blend of traditional Chinese and western instruments. I thought those were pretty interesting,” said Mr. Pellerin.
“I found it very inspiring. It matches the colours and the scenes perfectly and that’s the kind of music that I want to create.”
He was enchanted by the combination of Chinese and western instruments in the orchestra, which “expresses both the grandeur of a western orchestra and the distinct sensibilities of China’s 5,000-year-old civilization,” according the Shen Yun website.
“There was lots of very uplifting moments in the scores,” he said. “I loved all the gongs, and the violin combined with the erhu has a beautiful voice which really makes the performance quite special.”
The two-stringed erhu, also known as the Chinese violin, is one of the most important Chinese instruments, with a history of over 4,000 years. Incredibly expressive, it is capable of conveying a wide range of deep emotions.
Mr. Pellerin was moved by the solo erhu piece “All for Today,” performed by virtuoso Lu Sun.
“That was extremely impressive—the technique, but also the expression and just the ability to communicate certain emotions,” he said.
New York-based classical Chinese dance and music company Shen Yun is on a mission to revive 5,000 years of divinely inspired Chinese culture through the performing arts. Mr. Pellerin was in awe of the dancers’ ability and complex choreography in the 20-plus pieces.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” he said. “There is lots of impressive acrobatics—just mind-blowing.”
He was enchanted by the creativity of the choreography exemplified in the northeastern folk dance “Handkerchief Blossoms.” In this piece a group of young ladies merrily dance in the heart of winter, braving snow and ice. On their fingertips they simultaneously spin pink handkerchiefs, symbols of plum blossoms and the coming arrival of spring.
“The coordination and all of the props that were used like spinning [the handkerchief] around was very interesting,” said Mr. Pellerin. “A lot of very interesting moments for sure.”
With reporting by NTD Television and Justina Wheale
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reaction since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
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