DALLAS—The Winspear Opera House was alive with traditional Chinese culture as Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company played its final show in Dallas on Sunday, Dec. 18.
Arrick Jackson, the Divisional Dean Public Services and Social and Behavioral Sciences at Tarrant County College, attended Sunday’s afternoon performance.
Mr. Jackson, said he had never before been to a performance similar to Shen Yun, and called it “a very wonderful, wonderful show.”
The contrast between the male and female dancers struck him.
“Although the female characters are very colorful and just as wonderful as the male characters, their style is a lot softer, where the male dancers’ are a little bit harder, yet more masculine,” he said.
This contrast “adds a very good balance—a very feminine character and a very masculine character to the theater,” he noted.
Shen Yun’s performers use classical Chinese dance, an ancient art form, as their main medium of expression. The dance seeks to embody and express the 5,000-year-old culture of China, according to the New York-based company’s website.
Throughout Shen Yun’s performance, a tableau of colors, including bright pink and yellow hues, helps form “stunning images of beauty and splendor onstage,” the company says.
Mr. Jackson noted this extensive use of color in the performance, saying, “This is probably the most unique thing of this show.”
As an instructor, he said that “if the younger generation had an opportunity to see this, I think they would be thrilled with it. I think they'd see a great deal of opportunities,” saying it can bring about inspiration.
Mr. Jackson, who in grad school, majored in international relations pertaining to China and Taiwan, said Shen Yun’s depiction of current and social events “was very accurate, and I liked it portrayed in a theatrical performance.”
With reporting by NTD Television and Jack Phillips.
Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company will next perform at Houston’s Jones Hall, from Wednesday, Dec. 21 through Tuesday, Dec. 27. For more information visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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