GEELONG, Australia—The Shen Yun Performing Arts show at Geelong’s Costa Hall treated drama teachers Mr. and Mrs. Dolista to beautiful imagery and enthralling entertainment, while leaving them with a desire to know more about the stories presented in the dances.
It was the third and final performance in Geelong, Victoria, about 75 kilometers from Melbourne, before the show moves on to Adelaide on April 6 and 7.
“I’m thoroughly enjoying it. We love the multimedia aspects—the use of the screen [for digital backdrops]—and the interaction with the performers is very good. The actual precision of the dances and the performers is spectacular,” Mr. Dolista said.
Mrs. Dolista said, “The multimedia is fantastic. Fantastic! The skill is wonderful. And the costuming! I love the big sleeves, how they add to the movement of the act, the performers, and the dancers. The costuming and that extra fabric … it makes it seem like they’re floating across the stage.”
Mr. and Mrs. Dolista said they were speaking of all the dances: “All of them are spectacular,” Mr. Dolista said.
Mrs. Dolista spoke of some of the dances that were particularly striking to her: “That one in particular where the girls had the pink sleeves” [The Poet‘s Vision]. “And then the girls with the big skirts—that was really good [Dance of the Yi.]. That was beautiful, that was gorgeous.” She also singled out Flowing Sleeves as especially beautiful.
“Oh, the colors were divine, they’re stunning, like the bright blues and pinks—they’re just captivating. The colors of the clothing, they’re really beautiful, fantastic, really great. I think it’s captivating. The dancers’ clothing—they all have something bright, like a bright blue, and they’ll have sort of pastel colors complementing the bright color, and your eyes are just drawn.”
Mr. Dolista said, “You’re definitely smiling throughout the whole … everything. It’s very vibrant, especially when the Buddhas came down—it was wonderful.
“And the Monkey [The Monkey King]—I’ve been a fan of Monkey. I’ve read the translation of it, and I also watched the TV series when I was younger, so it was great to see all that. It’s great, and it’s a good little sampler of each dance style and a little bit of a history lesson.
“Every time the curtains open, you want to know what’s going to be next and what you’re going to see. And the acrobatics! They’re so light on their feet, it’s like they’re floating,” Mrs. Dolista said.
“In [Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution], when all the Buddhas came and the [celestial] maidens … it makes the spirituality of it tangible.” She also said the show takes “the audience on a journey that is sort of enlightening and spiritual and uplifting. … You’re enthralled by all you see.”
The couple, who both teach drama, also appreciated the difficult technical aspects. Mrs. Dolista said, “I think you just appreciate the skill and the expertise of all the performers—that precision, and the timing, and the dedication, and the training. …”
Mr. Dolista added, “You have to tell a story in a very short amount of time, so for example, in [Heaven Awaits Us Despite Persecution], they had three or four minutes to tell a fairly serious story, but they captured it very well in that short amount of time—the same with The Monkey King. It’s a very slick production, but it’s also just very well told, and that’s something we always try to do with our students, try to get them to tell a story succinctly.”
The audience attendance and warm reception for Shen Yun Performing Arts 2009 World Tour will no doubt bring the company back to Victoria in the coming year.
For more information please visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
