CINCINNATI—On Saturday, March 6, the New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts show received a warm welcome as it returned to Cincinnati, Ohio. Shen Yun Performing Arts International Company finds itself right at home in the beautiful surroundings of the Cincinnati Music Hall—the very aim of the company is to give audiences an experience of consummate beauty, according to their web site.
During the first half of the show the audience broke into applause even before dances finished completely.
Originally built in 1878, this national historic monument has been renovated and updated and is a Cincinnati showpiece. People report that the new acoustics are astounding.
Cincinnati was founded in 1788 and is considered the first truly American city. The city was a hub for the Erie Canal during the 19th Century, and the population boomed. During this period of rapid expansion, citizens of Cincinnati began referring to the city as the “Queen” city. The phrase was cemented in a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who wrote that the city was “the Queen of the West”, giving the city its nickname.
In this city which appreciates its own history, Shen Yun Performing Arts celebrates China’s traditional culture and features world-class performers. The individual dances are inspired by age-old legends and values at the core of China’s culture.
Audience members Udia Nagy and Margie Kellie gave their impressions of the show during the intermission. Udia is from Hungary and as a former dance teacher she has a special appreciation for dance.
Her first remark about the show was “It’s beautiful, it’s beautiful and high quality.” She could see the training the dancers had been through because they moved so smoothly, so fluidly, and so precisely. Margie, an elementary school tutor, suggested that Udia was describing the way they almost float across the stage, Udia agreed.
Margie continued, “I’m also struck by how they used the backdrop. For instance when they made the embroidery 3-D, and then have the people come down and show up on the stage, I think that’s very effective. And I’m really enjoying seeing a representation of some of the spiritual beliefs, I’m really enjoying that.”
She expressed her beliefs as she said, “There’s so much in Chinese culture and our culture and others’ that really has the same belief but it’s expressed in different ways, so I liked that. And I was really moved by the family that practices the belief [Falun Dafa] but they were torn part.
“That was very moving, very moving.” She was referring to the dance Nothing Can Block the Divine Path, which the official program describes in this way: a mother and daughter are performing Falun Dafa exercises in a park when the police arrest them and try to get them to give up their belief. Margie’s feelings were shared by many people as the audience burst into applause during this dance.
Udia then talked about her spiritual beliefs, “For me, when we go to the deepest level, or the highest level, truth is one, and spirituality is the connection with each other.
“Nothing else. If the spirituality or the open heart and love is not there, we are not connecting, with our nation or with other nations, or with anybody who exists on this earth.
“For me, because I hear the Dao, and I read it time to time, because it’s so short and so beautifully done by words, the truth is beyond words, and when I read the Dao [we] don’t need too many words, ... just the essence. That’s the beauty of the Chinese belief, it doesn’t matter the Dao or Buddhist or Zen Buddhist or Christian or Muslim. Truly when we go to the roots it’s one, and everybody belongs to and goes back there.”
Margie termed it “The source.” Udia said, “Yes, the source.”
With reporting by Stephanie Lam.
Shen Yun Performing Arts will travel to Louisville, Kentucky for a show on Sunday, March 7.
For more information, please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
