As an artist, Ms. Billings especially loved the colorful backdrops and the costumes. “Such a great pageantry,” she said.
MESA, Ariz.—Former middle school teacher Janna Gage and her friend Marie Billings, a painter, loved seeing Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company at the Ikeda Theater on Friday evening, March 1.
Ms. Gage said, “I loved the performance. It [had] beautiful costumes, very accomplished dancers, and the music was just radiant.”
New York-based Shen Yun was founded in 2006 with the mission “to revive the true, divinely inspired culture of China and share it with the world,” according to the company’s website.
“A Shen Yun performance features the world’s foremost classically trained dancers, a unique orchestra blending East and West, and dazzling animated backdrops—together creating one spectacular performance,” says the website.
The dancers were very impressive to Ms. Billings. “The dancers were perfect,” she said. “They never ever made a mistake. I loved it.”
According to Shen Yun’s website, “Chinese dance is at the heart of what Shen Yun does. Known for its incredible flips and spins, and its gentle elegance, it is one of the most rigorous and expressive art forms in the world.”
Ms. Gage, who enjoys going to the theater regularly, was enchanted with Shen Yun’s orchestra. “I just loved the music and instruments,” she said.
As an artist, Ms. Billings especially loved the colorful backdrops and the costumes. “Such a great pageantry,” she said.
Ms. Billings has an 11-year-old great-granddaughter who is a dancer and who had a recital at the Ikeda Theater just a few weeks ago.
Ms. Billings said she would be calling her granddaughter and great-granddaughter to tell them about Shen Yun. “I am going to say, you are going to have bring the little dancer girl here to see this,” she said.
Reporting by Flora Ge and Sarah Le.
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company is performing at the Ikeda Theater in the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, Ariz., March 2–3, and the Orpheum Theatre in Phoenix, Ariz., March 10. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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