MADISON, Wis.—“It was magnificent!” exclaimed Mrs. Jackie Erlandson. The retired English teacher and her husband joined the enthusiastic audience Wed. evening welcoming Shen Yun Performing Arts to Madison’s Overture Center for the Arts.
The internationally-renowned New York based company is in Madison this week for two performances, giving the couple the opportunity to experience classical Chinese dance and music for the first time.
Retired physician Dr. Jan Erlandson was moved by the performances and said he “Got a sense of the eternal and the mystical. It was very interesting.”
The couple explained that the tickets were a gift from their children
At the heart of a Shen Yun performance is classical Chinese dance, one of the most comprehensive and yet hardest dance systems to master in the world, according to the company’s website.
Mrs. Erlandson expressed her appreciation and said, “It was magnificent! The dancing was just phenomenal. The technique, the flow, the colors!”
In Shen Yun Performing Arts’ theatrical display of classical Chinese culture, digital backdrops bring scenes from 5,000 years of history to the modern stage. Scenes of the natural world as well as ancient Chinese art, including classical Chinese gardens and the heavenly scenes often portrayed in Buddhist paintings.
Dr. Erlandson expressed his amazement, “The graphics and the backdrop were phenomenal. The way the people came out of the display and appeared on stage and then disappeared back into the graphics. It was quite amazing!”
Dr. Erlandson found Shen Yun to be spiritual and enlightening, “I learned something. We’re all the same… we’re all in the same world.”
The doctor went to say that “The more we understand that interconnectedness, the better the world will be in the long run. As long as we think we’re all different, and don’t trust one another, then we have problems. That’s very important for us to remember—we’re all connected.”
He added that watching Shen Yun gave him a feeling of hope. “I guess I'd have to say it was a general feeling that came out—a sense of trust, trust in our humanity.”
Dr. Erlandson said he would recommend Shen Yun to others: “It’s an evening worth attending, spiritually and aesthetically. I was very satisfied and pleased with what I saw and heard. It was great!”
Reporting by Valerie Avore and Jeanmarie Lunsford.
Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world, with a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. Shen Yun Performing Arts Touring Company will perform in Madison, Wisconsin, April 4-5.
For more information, please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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