SAN DIEGO, Calif.—“I think the show is amazing. The whole cultural aspect of getting to see the dances, and to hear what the dances are about, and to hear the stories of the Chinese traditions—it’s very exciting,” said Ron Jessee, retired visual and performing arts coordinator for the San Diego County Office of Education.
Mr. Jessee had just seen Shen Yun Performing Arts’ New York Company at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido.
Shen Yun was founded in 2006 by “a group of leading classical Chinese artists [who] came together in New York with one wish: to revive the true, divinely inspired culture of China and share it with the world,” according to Shen Yun’s website.
“The visual was spectacular,” said Mr. Jessee, who was named California Art Education Association’s 2011 Administrator of the Year, awarded the La Jolla Playhouse’s Pelican Award for advancement of theater education in 2009, and has been recognized for excellence by several organizations.
“A Shen Yun performance features the world’s foremost classically trained dancers, a unique orchestra blending East and West, and dazzling animated backdrops—together creating one spectacular performance,” says the Shen Yun website.
Mr. Jessee said he could see Shen Yun’s dancers were very well trained.
“The classical training really shows,“ said Mr. Jessee, adding that all the different flips and jumps performed by the artists are ”just really, really amazing.”
The precision and skill of the orchestra were very impressive to Mr. Jessee, and he enjoyed experiencing the two different musical traditions together.
“The orchestra is impeccable. The director is doing an amazing job. And hearing the various Western and Chinese traditions blending together, and with the dance and the production, is just absolutely amazing.”
Mr. Jessee also enjoyed the interactive animated backdrops.
“The background is beautiful,” he said. “It enhances the beauty of what’s going on visually onstage, and doesn’t take away from the spectacular job the dancers are doing. It’s just phenomenal.”
Overall, Mr. Jessee thoroughly enjoyed his Shen Yun experience.
“I’m just so happy that we came to see this,” he said. “I was delighted at how spectacular it was.”
Reporting by NTD Television and Sarah Le
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit Shen Yun Performing Arts.
The Epoch Times considers Shen Yun Performing Arts the significant cultural event of our time. We have proudly covered audience reactions since Shen Yun’s inception in 2006.
