PHOENIX—Mr. Jones, a sculptor, thoroughly enjoyed the opening night of Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Gammage Auditorium, Arizona State University, on Friday, March 27.
Mr. Jones creates water sculptures by combining the science of water, technology, and art. He applies subtle phenomena that become sculptural in scale. He has studied Chinese culture, Chinese medicine, alchemy, and the history of China. With his background, he was very interested in the Shen Yun performances.
“I think the Chinese culture is stunning. I’m a long-term student of the world’s cultures, and the Chinese culture very much resonates with me, so I appreciate seeing all the subtleties that I don’t get by reading books.
“This show is amazing. It’s absolutely phenomenal! The precision of the movements, how elegantly everything flows, just seeing the feet land, seeing all of the subtleties and emotion, the way in which every actor really is managing [his or her] whole appearance to really bring up the level of the crowds’ emotion. It really is moving.
“It’s very graceful. There is a subtlety to it. It has a kind of beautiful polarity. The ladies are incredibly dainty, and yet they have such an internal presence. The men are very expressive … It’s kind of like a storm, like when the thunder hits—it’s sharp, but it’s also delightful.
“I think it’s quite lovely. I’m very moved by it. The coordination between movement and costume and expression is in harmony.
“That infinite complexity is held as the simplest grace. It’s held within the simplest grace as if all of the 10,000 things are present in the single flourish of the hand.”
As a sculptor, Mr. Jones particularly liked how the state-of-the-art 3-D digital backdrop contributed to the performances: “One of the things that I like from a sculpturing perspective is that this video has been very deeply incorporated with the whole thing, and so it really takes you into it. It’s more than just a flat stage, and that really is exciting, and then also there is more story that is being told in that way. The coordination of colors with the shape and motion, I think also is really quite good.
“I think that there are two aspects to the spiritual conveyance in the show. One is the very ancient, and the other is the understanding of the very ancient through the modern, which is the Falun Dafa.”
He said that the main message he received from the performances was, “The spiritual path is easiest followed with clear vision of the happenings of the world.
“The Mongolian Chopsticks dance was unique,” he said of his favorite performance.
Mr. Jones was grateful to have seen the Shen Yun show. “I am just so thankful,” he said.
Leigh Smith contributed to this report.
This was the first of three shows in Phoenix. Shen Yun will be going to Honolulu on Tuesday, March 31, on the next leg of its 2009 World Tour.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of the Shen Yun Performing Arts 2009 World Tour. For more information please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
