CHICAGO—An enthusiastic audience greeted Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company for its opening performance at the Civic Opera House, Thursday evening, April 19. “It’s amazing!” Mr. Todd Shingler said.
He was profoundly moved and called the performances, “Very joyous and expressive...a spiritual awakening.”
Mr. Shingler, president of Mobile Perspectives LLC, a Chicago-based strategic telecommunication consulting company, was touched by the music and songs and called them, “Very spiritual…very beautiful and lyrical.”
Classical Chinese dance is one of the most comprehensive and expressive dance systems in the world, allowing the artists’ movements to be deeply expressive; the personalities and feelings of characters can be portrayed with unparalleled clarity in a strikingly vivid way.
Mr. Shingler appreciated this, and said, “It’s amazing. Very expressive, very exact, very impressive how synchronized the dancers moved.”
He mentioned the performance, Silk Sleeves, saying “Just the artistry of making their sleeves part of the performance, very impressive!”
With him were eight work colleagues, including Brenda Ryan, account manager for a major national software company. She explained that she made sure to see Shen Yun in Chicago after missing it in Houston.
Ms. Ryan enjoyed the dancers and said, “It’s very expressive…especially the monks,” she said referring to the performance, “Joyful Little Monks“.
Audiences world-wide have praised Shen Yun’s orchestra, a unique blend of classical Western and Chinese instruments. Ms. Ryan was moved by the music, and said, “Very good, very coordinated with the dancers.”
Mr. Shingler was intrigued by the digital backdrops that display scenes of the natural world as well as ancient Chinese art, including classical Chinese gardens and the heavenly scenes often portrayed in Buddhist paintings.
He said, “Very innovative! I find the backdrop, the animation of the back scene and then the characters coming out of the screen and back to the screen, very interesting, very innovative.”
Mr. Shingler said he would highly recommend Shen Yun to his colleagues and friends. “It’s beautiful and different. It’s not the kind of show you normally see. [Shen Yun] is kind of a spectacle kind of show and just beautiful.”
Reporting by Catherine Wen and Jeanmarie Lunsford
Shen Yun Performing Arts, based in New York, has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world, with a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company will perform in Chicago through April 22.
For more information visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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