SHEN YUN PERFORMING ARTS REVIEWS

Shen Yun ‘Mesmerizing,’ Says Jewelry Designer

Apr 20, 2013
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Shen Yun ‘Mesmerizing,’ Says Jewelry Designer
People wait around the fountain at Lincoln Center for the opening of Shen Yun Performing Arts on Jan 11, 2012. (Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times)

NEW YORK–Ashok Sancheti spends his days working with precious gems as a jewelry designer. On Saturday afternoon, watching Shen Yun Performing Arts at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater, he found it a thing of beauty. 

“It is beautiful, it is mesmerizing,” Mr. Sancheti said of the company’s first performance of 11 in New York. “They show you different parts of China with different kinds of cultures.”

New York-based Shen Yun revives 5,000 years of Chinese culture, including classical Chinese dance, as well as ethnic and folk dance from the diverse ethnic groups that have thrived in China over the centuries. “In less than ten minutes each, Shen Yun dances recount ancient myths, bygone heroes, or celestial paradises,” according to the Shen Yun website. 

Mr. Sancheti noted the differences between this vision of Chinese culture and the one he says most people are familiar with.

“What we see in China is the businessmen. It’s all modern cities—[such as] Shanghai—busy and changing,” Mr. Sancheti said. He said it is rare to see “this side of China,” presented in Shen Yun. 

“It takes you to travel around China in the past,” Mr. Sancheti said.

Shen Yun was formed to revive the ancient culture after the ruling communist regime nearly destroyed it, according to the company’s website.

The Shen Yun Performing Arts New York Company Orchestra also enthralled Mr. Sancheti, who called it “pleasant” and a “more divine kind of music.” 

“A very sweet music. I love it,” said Mr. Sancheti. “It is very good for your ears to hear.”

Shen Yun’s orchestra combines traditional Chinese instruments, such as the erhu and pipa, with Western classical instruments.

China’s ancient culture is held to be divinely inspired, according to Shen Yun’s website. Mr. Sancheti could hear it in the music, which, he said, “is like a devotional music.”

Reporting by William Jin and Tara MacIsaac.

New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts has three touring companies that perform simultaneously around the world. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org

Shen Yun Performing Arts is performing at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center from April 20–28.

The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts.