BALTIMORE—Artist Celine Loup was full of praise for Shen Yun Performing Arts after seeing the classical Chinese dance and music company perform at the Lyric Opera House on Friday evening.
“It was wonderful, really. The dancers were so talented … the musicians; I was stunned by the choreography, the costumes,” Ms. Loup said.
“I thought it was really well put together.”
Ms. Loup is an illustrator whose works have been featured in a number of high profile publications including the New York Times and the New Yorker, among others. Ms. Loup’s work has been honored by the American Illustration, the Society of Illustrators, and CMYK.
Shen Yun, which is based in New York, was formed in 2006 by a group of leading classical Chinese artists with a mission to revive China’s divinely inspired culture. Being independent of the Chinese regime, Shen Yun enjoys the artistic freedom of the west and travels the world to take audiences through a journey of 5,000 years of Chinese culture.
From the evening’s performance, Ms. Loup said she saw themes of compassion, and found the performance to be very touching.
“I really feel for Chinese people who cannot express themselves openly in China and face so much oppression,” Ms. Loup said, adding that Shen Yun artists are brave to put on a performance despised by China’s communist regime.
Ms. Loup also praised Shen Yun’s orchestra, which combines traditional Chinese instruments with a classical Western orchestra to create a very unique sound. The orchestra performs original scores that accompany the dance performances.
“I was surprised at how Western [the orchestra] was, the music was very Western classical, that was interesting,” she said.
In the Shen Yun Orchestra, ancient Chinese instruments such as the erhu and pipa lead the melody on top of a full orchestra of Western strings, percussion, woodwinds, and brass.
“I was focused on the dancers, and the music really complemented them. I think it was very beautiful, and it came together very well.”
Ms. Loup expressed hope that more people attend the performance and enjoy Shen Yun’s art.
“Come if you really want to feel inspired and see a lot of really talented people put on a great show and have a taste of what China is about,” Ms. Loup said.
“I really hope [Shen Yun] keep coming back to Baltimore; it’s such a treat for us to get something like this.”
Reporting by NTD Television
New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has four touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
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.
