LOS ANGELES—Canadian screenwriter Sean O'Bryne and his wife, Australian actress Kym Wilson, were among the enchanted theatergoers at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on Friday night, for the sold-out opening show of Shen Yun Performing Arts.
Shen Yun was formed in 2006 with the mission of reviving 5,000 years of traditional Chinese culture. Through classical Chinese dance, music, and song, it seeks to reveal the deeper spiritual core of ancient Chinese culture, says its website, with its values of benevolence, honor, propriety, wisdom, and sincerity, as well as a reverence for the gods and the heavens.
Mr. O'Bryne said that when the curtain came up “I felt we were just so fortunate to go in through a doorway to another world.”
His wife added, “Oh, I think it is magical, I think the artists involved are so talented. And it is beautiful to see, this part of Chinese history reflected to us here. … And it is just so elegant—it is breathtaking.”
Mr. O'Bryne has been working as a screenwriter in Los Angeles for the past 20 years, having written for film and television. He is currently involved in several projects through his production company, RAVEN Productions. Kym Wilson has starred in many films in both Australia and the United States and is a board member of Australians in Film, based in Los Angeles.
Referring to the Chinese dancing, Mr. O'Bryne said, “No one can do the kind of dancing that they do. The influence of, you know, history and martial arts, and traditional dance, is beautiful. And no one can do it like they do it.”
He continued, “It is beautiful, I think it is really wonderful to experience the Chinese culture that is different than the China that we hear about in the news.”
The couple was especially impressed by Shen Yun’s high-tech digital backdrop. Mr. O‘Bryne said: “The backdrops are awesome, I am looking at them thinking, ’Were they pictures that have been somehow enhanced or did someone create them from their mind from the very beginning?'”
Indeed, the backdrops take you “From vast open grasslands in one dance to the stately elegance of Tang Dynasty pavilions in another; from dusty yellow battlegrounds to tropical beaches to Himalayan peaks to picturesque scenery of the Yellow River Delta—the digital projection infinitely expands and transforms the stage,” says the company’s website.
Mr. O'Bryne was grateful to see this gorgeous scenery even just from here. “They are beautiful, and I know they are some scenes that are parts of China that I have seen pictures of. It is very beautiful,” he said.
The state-of-the-art graphics technology creates vividly animated settings, extending the stage and transporting the audience to a world where heaven and earth are one. “I really love the scenery as well,” said Ms. Wilson.
“I love the way they use it to travel with the characters, that go from the stage and into the scenery,” she said, referring to how the dancers interact with the screen, appearing to leap onto the stage from the backdrop. She also said she enjoyed the portrayal of celestial beings in the backdrops.
They both were unanimous in recommending Shen Yun to everyone. Ms. Wilson said, “It’s beautiful, it’s entertaining, and completely different to what you have seen before. Go see it.”
Reporting by SOH Radio Network and Sophia Bronwen.
Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company will perform at The Music Center through Jan. 14.
For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org.
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3WTKCEA4tE[/video]
