SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun Artists ‘Are Living the Adventure They Are Telling Us,’ Says Paris Theatergoer

Feb 24, 2023

PARIS—Philippe Drobinski is a research director at the CNRS, specialized in meteorology and climatology. On Saturday, Feb. 18, he came to experience Shen Yun Performing Arts at the Palais des Congrès.

“It’s poetry!” he said enthusiastically. “The performances are just incredible. The dancers are outstanding and the story is just incredible!”

The artistic level of the dancers was, he said “at the top of what’s been done. There are jumps which require both the flexibility of the movements, and then the athletic performances that are amazing.”

“The harmony is conveyed by the ease of movement, by the athletic performance and then by the softness and grace.”

“What I find original is to show scenes taking place in different period, in different places. I loved the dance taking place in Tibet. It was just amazing!”

New York-based Shen Yun is the world’s premier classical Chinese dance company, and the only such company presenting this ancient art form in its most authentic form. In addition to classical Chinese dance, a Shen Yun production generally features ethnic and folk dances of China’s 50-some ethnic minority groups.

Jacques Frenehard is a business owner in Normandy. His Shen Yun tickets were a gift from his daughter and son-in-law.

“They told us, ‘You’ll see, it’s fabulous, and it’s really fabulous!'”

Jacques Frenehard, a company director, came to discover Shen Yun on Feb. 18, 2023 in Paris. (NTD)

Mr. Frenehard was overwhelmed by “emotion, and then also a lot of mixed feelings between what’s going on in China right now, what Shen Yun Company is demonstrating, what they hope for. It stirs up a lot of internal feelings!”

Shen Yun means “the beauty of divine beings dancing,” paying homage to the traditional Chinese belief that Chinese culture was inspired by the divine.

As a believer himself, Mr. Frenehard experienced “a very strong feeling ... a feeling that faith corresponds to something, a hope! It gives a much needed hope, especially because of what is happening right now and not far from us.”

Lucas Etienne is a railway engineer; he was accompanied by Clothilde Gendreau, a law student.

Lucas Etienne, a railway engineer, and Clothilde Gendreau, a law student, enjoyed Shen Yun in Paris on Feb. 18, 2023. (NTD)

The engineer found “the show very, very interesting”, with “a very exceptional artistic level! We saw a lot of things, a lot of acrobatics, great technique, great jumps, and it’s truly very impressive to see!”

These spectators were all able to experience a special feeling.

“It was really well done and you could almost imagine being in China 1,000 or 2,000 years ago,” said Ms. Gendreau.

“I believe in God,” said Ms. Gendreau. “So I was immediately hooked and I really felt the divine in it. I’m even going to buy some books to learn more about it.

Mr. Etienne was sensitive to the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance practiced by the Shen Yun artists in the meditation discipline of Falun Dafa.

He explained it this way:

“I felt patience in the sense that, for the work they do, it takes enormous patience and forbearance to be able to do it. Compassion in the sense that you feel they are really transmitting something to the public and they like what they are transmitting. And truthfulness in the sense that you feel they really enjoy sharing what they are sharing. It was as if they are living the adventure they are telling us. So we really felt the three symbols.”

Reporting by NTD and Sarita Modmesaïb.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. We have covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.